The  Mormon  Delusion 


ITS   HISTORY,    DOCTRINES,    AND    THE    OUTLOOK 
IN    UTAH 


Rev.    M.   W.    MONTGOMERY 


BOSTON  AND  CHICAGO 

Congregational  Sunoags&crjool  ano  Hubligrjtno;  Soctetg 


copyright  1890  by 
Congregational  Sunday-School  and  Publishing  Society 


Electrotyped  and  Printed  by 
Samuel  Usher  111  Devonshire  Street  Boston 


PREFACE. 


Hitherto  there  has  not  been  any  one  book  published  that 
gives  all  the  essential  facts  about  Moraionism  and  the 
situation  in  Utah.  Several  valuable  books  treat  only  of 
certain  periods  in  Mormon  history,  or  of  special  phases  of 
the  problem.  Still  other  volumes  are  "founded  on  facts," 
—  as  if  the  facts  themselves  were  not  sufficiently  startling. 
A  want  has  been  widely  felt  for  a  single  book  which  should, 
in  very  brief  space,  cover  all  the  ground  and  be  adapted  to 
every  class  of  readers  who  are  seeking  complete  and  accurate 
information  on  this  subject.  The  following  pages  are  an 
effort  to  occupy  this  open  field 

M.  W.  M. 
Minneapolis,  Minu.,  1890. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  page 

The    Origin    of    Mormonism.  —  Early    Years    of     the 
False  Prophet 11 

CHAPTER  II. 

Westward   Flight.  —  Cast    Out    from    Civilization.  — 

The  Prophet  Killed  ...         35 

CHAPTER  III. 
Fleeing  to  the  Mountains      62 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The    First   Ten   Years   of   Mormonism   in   the   Rocky 
Mountains 74 

CHAPTER  Y. 

Making  Converts  in  Europe. —  One  Woman's   Life   in 
Mormonism 98 

CHAPTER  YI. 

Across  the  Sea  to  Utah.  —  The  Hand-cart  Brigade      .    119 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Experiences  in  Salt  Lake  City.  —  Mr.  Stenhouse  Takes 
Wife  Number  Two 138 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Blood    Atonement.  —  Reign    of    Terror.  —  Mountain 
Meadows  Massacre 161 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Murder  and  Treason  Unpunished.  — Brigham  Young    .    177 


Contents. 

PAGfl 

CHAPTER  X. 

Polygamy  and  its  Bitter  Fruits 193 

CHAPTER   XL 

To  and  Fro  in  the  Earth.  — Methods  of  Mormon  Mis- 
sionaries   216 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  Bible  and  Polygamy 229 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Book  of  Mormon,  or  "  The  Golden  Bible.'-  — 
Mormonism  in  Rhyme  and  Catechism       246 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Mormon  Mendacity. — Utah  Morals  of  To-day    ....    261 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Mormons  and  Congress.  —  Judge  McKean.  —  Judge 

Zane.  —  George  Q.  Cannon 288 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  United  States  Court  Denies  Citizenship  to  Mor- 
mon Foreigners 299 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Shall  Utah  become  a  State  ? 312 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 

The  Outlook. —Past  Midnight  in  Utah. —Attitude  of 
the  Mormons.  —  Schools  and  Churches.  —  What 
Ought  Congress  to  Do  for  Utah?  —  What  can  Citi- 
zens Do? 327 

Addenda 350 


"  Mormon  "  =  [xopfiwv  =  "  a  hideous  monster." 


"  I  have  not  sent  these  prophets,  yet  they  ran 
I  have  not  spoken  to  them,  yet  they  prophesied.'9 


"Behold,  I  am  against  the  prophets,  saith  the 
Lord,  that  steal  my  words  .  .  .  that  prophesy 
false  dreams,  .  .  .  and  do  tell  them,  and  cause 
my  people  to  err  by  their  lies," 


"Being  filled  with  all  unrighteousness." 


name 


They    .    .    .    have    spoken   lying    words   in   my 

99 


THE  MORMON    DELUSION. 


CHAPTER   I. 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    MORMONISM. EARLY  YEARS    OF  THE    FALSE 

PROPHET. 

THE  Mormons  were  first  organized  into  a  church 
April  6,  1830,  at  the  house  of  David  Whitmer,  in 
Fayette,  Seneca  County,  New  York.  Joseph  Smith,  who 
called  himself  a  prophet,  was  the  leading  spirit  in  its 
organization.  The  six  original  members  consisted  of 
himself  and  two  of  his  brothers,  Hyrum  and  Samuel  H. 
Smith ;  Oliver  Cowdery,  who  afterwards  became  the 
prophet's  scribe,  and  Peter  and  David  Whitmer,  brothers 
from  Pennsylvania.  These  men  were  all  ignorant,  and 
some  of  them  were  not  in  good  repute  among  their 
neighbors.  From  this  humble  beginning  the  so-called 
Mormon  Church  has  grown  like  a  coarse  weed  in  rich 
soil.  During  the  sixty  years  (1830-1890)  since  that 
time  the  church  has  risen  to  a  membership,  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  of  about  two  hundred  thousand  persons, 
including  children.  It  also  has  scattered  adherents  in 
most  parts  of  the  United  States  and  in  many  parts  of 
the  civilized  world,  including  the  islands  of  the  sea.  At 
the  first  it  was  named  the'  "  Church  of  Christ,"  but 
this  name   was   changed,    several  years    later,   to   "  The 


12  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints."  The 
Mormons,  in  every-day  language,  call  themselves  "  Lat- 
ter Day  Saints,"  or  "  the  Saints,"  and  do  not  like  to  be 
called  Mormons. 

Joseph  Smith,  the  prophet  so  called,  was  born  in 
Sharon,  Vermont,  December  23,  1805.  When  he  was 
eleven  years  of  age,  his  parents  moved  to  Manchester, 
New  York,  near  Palmyra. 

The  Smiths  worked  only  as  necessity  required  to  eke 
out  a  half -vagrant  life.  The  father  and  sons  hunted 
muskrats,  peddled  with  a  cart,  lounged  about  the  village 
shops  ;  were  illiterate,  shiftless,  profane,  and  intemperate. 
The  prophet's  father  was  a  babbler,  lover  of  the  marvel- 
ous, quarrelsome,  a  moral  wreck,  and  readily  followed 
the  vagaries  of  his  son  with  a  conscienceless  eye  to  a 
little  gain  and  a  vulgar  notoriety. 

The  prophet's  mother  had  a  strong  mind,  but  ill- 
balanced  ;  was  a  filthy  housekeeper ;  a  fortune-teller ; 
a  quack  doctor  ;  loved  revery  and  mystery  ;  claimed  that 
miraculous  healings  had  occurred  in  her  family ;  reli- 
giously, was  a  "crank";  and  was  credited  with  being 
"more  of  a  fanatic  than  a  fraud."  The  wild  dream  of 
the  coming  of  a  prophet  in  these  latter  days  originated  in 
her  own  disordered  fancy  and  ambition.  While  they  yet 
lived  in  Vermont  she  proclaimed  that  a  prophet  had  been 
born  of  her,  and  that  Alvah,  her  oldest  son,  was  the  com- 
ing seer.  But  Alvah  was  human,  ate  too  many  green 
turnips  and  died.  The  artful  mother  then  announced  that 
it  was  Joseph  who  was  to  be  the  prophet,  and  the  father 
joined  in  telling  the  story  to  their  children  and  neighbors. 
In  the  family  and  abroad  the  fancy  was  treated  with  a 
mysterious  solemnity  well  calculated  to  make  an  impres- 
sion upon  similar  minds.     After  the  prophet's  death  she 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  13 

wrote  sketches  of  his  life  and  claimed  that  miraculous 
events  had  been  occurring  in  her  family  for  generations 
previously.  Thus  the  career  of  the  prophet  was  planned 
in  outline  by  his  mother  even  before  he  was  born. 

The  parents,  and  especially  the  mother,  kept  before 
the  young  Joseph  the  idea  that  he  was  to  be  some  great 
person,  and  mysteriously  hinted  at  visions  and  miracles. 
"  The  entire  training  of  the  youth  was  in  the  direction  of 
his  mother's  wish.  Perhaps  the  seed  of  an  actual  belief 
in  this  destiny  was  so  deeply  planted  in  his  soul  that  it 
bore  fruit  in  all  the  years  of  his  career.  It  was  never 
altogether  destroyed,  giving  the  key  to  some  things  in 
his  character  not  otherwise  made  plain.  That  he  was  an 
immense  imposition  upon  the  credulity  of  man,  and  knew 
himself  to  be  such,  can  hardly  be  questioned ;  yet  under 
all  quackery  there  usually  lies  a  stratum  of  self-decep- 
tion." l 

The  boy  had  but  a  smattering  of  what  was  then  called 
"  schooling."  He  read  very  few  books  and  these  of  the 
vicious  sort.  His  favorites  were  the  lives  of  robbers  and 
pirates,  such  as  the  ;'  Life  of  Stephen  Burroughs,"  and 
the  pirate  Captain  Kidd.  The  inheritance  of  bad  blood 
and  the  impression  of  such  baleful  literature  developed 
an  imagination  which  teemed  with  fraudulent  schemes 
even  in  the  years  of  boyhood. 

The  testimony  of  many  who  knew  Joseph  Smith  as  a 
boy  and  young  man  has  been  gathered,  and  from  them 
we  learn  that  he  was  "lounging  and  lazy  "  ;  "a  dull-eyed, 
flaxen-haired,  prevaricating  boy,  noted  only  for  his 
indolent,  vagabondish  character  and  his  habits  of 
exaggeration    and    untruthfulness.     He    could    utter   the 

1  Early  Days  of    Mormonism,  by  J.  H.  Kennedy.    New  York:  Charles 
Scribner's  Sons. 


14  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

most  marvelous  absurdity  with  the  utmost  apparent 
gravity.  He  nevertheless  evidenced  the  rapid  develop- 
ment of  a  thinking,  plodding,  evil-brewing  mental  com- 
position —  largely  given  to  inventions  of  low,  cunning 
schemes  of  mischief  and  deception,  and  false  and  myste- 
rious pretensions.  .  .  .  He  was,  however,  proverbially 
good-natured,  very  rarely,  if  ever,  indulging  in  any  com- 
bative spirit  toward  any  one,  whatever  might  be  the  prov- 
ocation." ]  He  would  "  tell  fortunes"  for  pay;  claimed 
that  he  could  tell  where  veins  of  water  could  be  found 
and  where  money  was  buried  by  using  a  forked  stick 
of  witch-hazel  as  a  charm. 

As  the  young  Smith  grew  into  manhood  he  widened 
his  pretensions  and  became  what  his  neighbors  called  a 
"money  digger."  From  being  a  "water  witch"  he 
gave  his  spurious  claims  more  interest  by  giving  out  that 
he  could  tell  where  the  lost  treasures  of  Captain  Kidd 
were  buried  ;  where  other  hidden  riches  could  be  found  ; 
where  mysterious  chests  of  gold  were  concealed  in  the 
earth;  where  stolen  coin,  silver  ore,  salt  mines,  etc., 
could  be  discovered.  When  the  possibility  of  sudden 
wealth  was  cunningly  held  up  before  his  neighbors, 
the  willing  dupes  multiplied  rapidly.  His  father  and 
brothers  were  always  ready  to  endorse  his  schemes  that 
they  might  share  in  the  petty  plunder  sometimes  secured 
from  those  whose  avaricious  desires  made  them  an  easy 
prey  to  such  a  humbugger.  Doubtless  many  were  drawn 
into  this  fruitless  digging  in  many  places  for  hidden 
money  by  this  love  of  the  marvelous,  which  Smith 
carefully  cultivated  by  accompanying  all  his  pretended 
information  and  searches  witli  strange  hints,  mysterious 
signs,  and  claims  to  be  in  close  communication  with  the 

1  Early  Days  of  Mormonism. 


The  Mormon  Delusion,  15 

devil    and   other    "spirits"  that  were   "familiar"    with 
him. 

Eleven  reliable  citizens  of  Manchester,  New  York, 
where  the  Smiths  lived,  signed  the  following  state- 
ment :  — 

We,  the  undersigned,  being  personally  acquainted  with  the 
family  of  Joseph  Smith,  Sr.  (father  of  the  Prophet),  with 
whom  the  Gold  Bible,  so  called,  originated,  state  that  they 
were  not  only  a  lazy,  indolent  set  of  men,  but  also  intemper- 
ate, and  their  word  was  not  to  be  depended  upon,  and  we  are 
truly  glad  to  dispense  with  their  society. 

Sixty- two  credible  residents  of  Palmyra,  New  York, 
signed  the  following  declaration  :  — 

We,  the  undersigned,  have  been  acquainted  with  the  Smith 
family  for  a  number  of  j^ears  while  they  resided  near  this 
place,  and  we  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  we  consider 
them  destitute  of  that  moral  character  which  ought  to  entitle 
them  to  the  confidence  of  any  community.  They  were  partic- 
ularly famous  for  visionary  projects ;  spent  much  of  their 
time  in  digging  for  money  which  they  pretended  was  hid  in 
the  earth,  not  far  from  their  residence,  where  they  used  to 
spend  their  time  in  digging  for  hidden  treasures.  Joseph 
Smith,  Sr.,  and  his  son  (the  so-called  prophet)  were,  in  partic- 
ular, considered  entirely  destitute  of  moral  character,  and 
addicted  to  vicious  habits. 

Already  he  began  to  use  religion  to  further  his  ends 
and  to  practice  the  hypocrisy  which  he  afterwards  used  so 
effectively.  One  who  was  a  neighbor  says  :  "  He  claimed 
to  receive  revelations  from  the  Lord,  and  would  pray 
with  his  men  mornings  and  at  other  times." 

His  next  device  was  what  his  neighbors  called  the 
"peep-stone."  Pie  had  found  a  stone  shaped  somewhat 
like  a  human  foot,  and  with  a  bandage  over  his  eyes 
would  fall  upon  his  knees  and  cover  his  face  with  an  old 


16  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

hat  in  which  this  "  peep-stone  "  had  first  been  placed,  and 
then  claim  to  see  in  the  stone  the  location  of  lost  treas- 
ures and  stolen  goods.  Some  people  were  duped  into 
paying  him  for  such  information  and  many  engaged  in 
extensive  digging  for  hidden  things.  At  one  time,  when 
Joseph  was  overseeing  a  digging,  he  said  that  a  fat  black 
sheep  must  be  sacrificed  or  they  should  not  find  the 
hidden  gold.  The  dupes  produced  the  sheep,  and  Smith 
sprinkled  its  blood  over  the  ground  where  they  should 
dig.  The  fact  that  one  of  the  Smith  family  disappeared 
with  the  fat  sheep  while  the  digging  was  in  progress  may 
have  been  suggestive  to  some  of  them.  Even  this  tv  peep- 
stone  "  humbug  was  an  idea  borrowed  from  a  fortune- 
telling    old  woman  who    lived    not    many   miles    distant. 

The  notoriety  which  such  things  gave  to  Joseph  fed 
the  vulgar  pride  of  himself  and  the  Smith  family,  espe- 
cially the  mother  ;  but  the  most  important  result  was  the 
hint  it  gave  to  Joseph  of  the  gullibility  of  mankind.  It 
gave  him  the  confidence  necessary  to  carry  out  the  larger 
deceptions  of  later  years.  The  preliminary  steps  toward 
these  now  began  to  take  shape  in  the  mind  so  fruitful  in 
hatching  frauds. 

"  It  was  by  such  people  and  amid  such  surroundings 
that  Mormonism  had  birth  and  was  nurtured  in  its  early 
days.  In  an  extended,  honestly  intended  quest  along 
this  line  of  information,  I  have  been  unable  to  find  that 
one  of  the  Mormon  leaders  in  the  early  days  was  an  ear- 
nest, honest-minded  believer  in  the  creed  he  advocated. 
Not  one  of  them  would  have  met  martyrdom  for  con- 
science' sake.  There  was  not  one  who  did  not  value  it 
for  the  gain  there  was  to  be  had  of  it.  This  does  not 
hold  true  of  their  followers  and  dupes,  among  whom  were 
many  who  beggared  themselves  that  their  church  might 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  17 

live,  and  bravely  and  lovingly  met  scorn  and  injustice 
that  their  faith  might  be  made  manifest  in  their  works. 
It  was  through  them  that  the  church  gained  all  the  stabil- 
ity of  which  it  was  possessed ;  and  it  was  through  their 
efforts  that  Smith  and  his  co-conspirators  were  enabled  to 
live  in  the  ease  and  comfort  of  which  they  made  such 
ready  use."  l 

The  next  step  in  the  growth  of  the  fraudulent  scheme 
of  Joseph  Smith  was  his  alleged  visions  and  the  visitation 
of  angels  and  the  so-called  discovery  of  golden  plates  in 
a  bank  known  as  Cumorah  Hill,  near  their  residence  in 
Manchester,  New  York.  From  the  alleged  hieroglyphics 
which  he  said  these  plates  contained,  he  pretended  to 
translate  by  inspiration  what  was  afterwards  called  the 
"Book  of  Mormon,"  one  of  the  so-called  sacred  books 
of  the  Mormon  Church.  Great  religious  excitements 
were  widely  prevalent  during  these  years  throughout 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Kentucky.  All 
denominations  of  religious  people  were  more  or  less 
moved  by  revival  interest,  accompanied  by  remarkable 
manifestations. 

The  community  where  the  Smiths  lived  was  moved  by 
a  revival  which  appeared  in  greater  or  less  degree  in  all 
the  churches,  and  the  Smith  family,  with  their  natural 
love  of  excitement,  mystery,  and  pretence,  were  respon- 
sive to  the  appeals  made  to  them.  Some  of  them  are 
said  to  have  joined  some  of  the  churches,  though  no 
reformation  in  their  lives  has  been  credited  to  them. 
Smith  claimed  that  the  Lord  visited  him  in  visions  at 
frequent  intervals  and  told  him  that  the  golden  plates 
contained  the  fullness  of  the  Gospel  dispensation. 

This  is  the  fabricated  story  published  to  the  world  by 

1  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  p.  18. 


18  TJie  Mormon  Delusion. 

this  impostor.  It  blinded  the  eyes  of  many  whose  igno- 
rant credulity  invited  imposition.  If  baited  with  the 
"  mysterious  and  marvelous,"  they  were  ready  to  swallow 
any  hook  which  this  designing  Smith  family  should  throw 
out. 

The  real  origin  of  the  so-called  "golden  plates,"  how- 
ever, was  not  so  heavenly  as  the  dreaming  Joseph  would 
have  us  think.  Stripped  of  falsehood,  its  origin  was  as 
follows,  as  told  by  Peter  Ingersoll,  who  lived  neighbor  to 
the  Smiths,  and  was  a  comrade  of  Joseph's.  Ingersoll 
relates  that  one  day  Joseph  called  upon  him  and  was  evi- 
dently much  amused  by  some  joke  which  was  "  too  good 
to  keep,"  and  said  that  as  he  (Joseph)  was  coining 
through  the  woods  he  found  some  very  pretty,  white  sand 
and  took  two  or  three  quarts  of  it  home.  The  family 
were  at  the  dinner  table,  and  were  very  inquisitive  about 
what  it  was  that  he  had.  Their  curiosity  suggested  to 
him  a  little  sport,  and  thinking  just  then  of  a  story  he 
had  heard  of  a  "Golden  Bible"  alleged  to  have  been 
found  in  Canada,  he  assumed  a  very  solemn  manner  and 
told  them  it  was  "  the  Golden  Bible,"  and  that  he  had 
received  a  commandment  to  let  do  one  see  it,  "  for," 
said  he  to  them,  "  no  one  can  see  it  with  the  naked  eye 
and  live."  To  his  surprise,  they  appeared  to  believe  him 
and  were  even  afraid  to  have  the  package  unwrapped  in 
their  presence.  "  Now,"  said  Smith  to  Ingersoll,  with  an 
oath,  "  /  have  got  the  fools  fixed,  and  I  will  carry  out  the 
fun." 

Thenceforward  he  carried  out  the  suggestion  which 
was  the  result  of  his  little  joke,  added  marvelous 
details  to  his  story,  and  gave  an  air  of  solemnity  and 
grave  importance  to  the  whole  matter.  The  Smith  family 
joined  in  the  hoax  and  declared  their  firm  belief  in  the 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  19 

story.  They  seemed  to  expect  that  their  love  for  noto- 
riety and  for  unearned  money  was  about  to  be  gratified 
from  this  stupid  fraud.  And  they  were  not  mistaken. 
The  rumor  of  a  wonderful  discovery  spread  from  neigh- 
bor to  neighbor.  Some  half-credited  the  story,  while 
all  helped  to  spread  it  abroad.  No  one  was  more  sur- 
prised than  Joseph  himself  at  the  success  of  his  hoax, 
and  he  fanned  the  excitement,  being  careful  to  protect 
himself  from  exposure  by  those  who  came  to  investigate 
by  reiterating  that  "  no  one  could  look  upon  those  plates 
and  live." 

Among  the  curious  callers  were  two  young  men, 
waggish  companions  of  Smith.  They  begged  for  the 
privilege  of  one  look  at  the  mysterious  plates,  but 
Joseph  was  solemn  in  his  asseverations  that  one  such 
glance  would  be  certain  death  to  both.  Smith  finally 
consented  to  show  to  them  its  hiding-place,  and  permit 
them  to  look  upon  its  shape,  as  it  lay  covered  from 
view  in  a  corner  of  the  garret.  During  the  interview 
one  of  the  inquirers  suddenly  threw  off  the  covering, 
saying,  "  I  will  see  the  critter,  live  or  die."  This 
unexpected  exposure  revealed  only  —  a  brick!  Joseph 
was  not  abashed ;  his  fertile  ingenuity  in  falsehood 
came  to  his  rescue,  and  he  gravely  declared  that  his 
supernatural  vision  had  enabled  him  to  see  their  pur- 
pose, and  so  he  had  misled  them  as  to  the  place  where 
he  was  keeping  the  plates.  Not  trusting  fully  in  the 
security  of  this  sham  to  save  him  from  exposure,  he 
treated  his  friends  to  whiskey,  and  asked  them  to  say 
nothing. 

Such  was  the  low  origin  of  the  whole  story  of  "The 
Golden  Plates,"  "The  Golden  Bible,"  and  "The  Book 
of  Mormon,"  which  have  helped  more  than  a  quarter 
of  a  million  of  souls  to  feed  upon  delusion ! 


20  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

As  Joseph  Smith  was  without  money  or  credit,  he 
could  not  carry  his  scheme  much  further  without  finan- 
cial assistance.  After  making  many  efforts  to  persuade 
various  persons  to  be  imposed  upon  by  his  story  of  the 
visions  and  the  golden  plates,  he  finally  found  a  man 
after  his  own  heart,  Mr.  Martin  Harris.  Harris  was 
a  farmer  possessed  of  some  ten  thousand  dollars'  worth 
ff  property,  and  had  belonged  to  each  of  half  a  dozen 
religious  sects.  He  was  probably  partially  insane,  but 
he  may  have  been  at  this  time  only  so  badly  balanced 
in  mind  as  to  be  devoid  of  any  sound  judgment. 
Certain  it  is  that  in  later  years  insanity  was  clearly 
developed.  He  had  the  reputation  of  abusing  his  wife 
and  being  ready  to  be  a  follower  of  any  new  faith  which 
might  be  brought  to  his  attention,  especially  if  it  was 
strange.  To  him  Joseph  applied  for  funds  to  sustain 
him  in  the  translation  of  the  golden  plates  and  the 
publication  of  the  same  in  book  form.  Martin  seemed 
ready  to  be  imposed  upon,  but  asked  Joseph  for  a  copy 
of  the  alleged  hieroglyphics  upon  the  golden  plates  and 
a  translation  of  some  of  them,  that  he  might  take  them 
to  learned  men  for  examination.  Joseph  was  finally 
persuaded,  though  with  great  reluctance,  to  comply  with 
Martin's  request,  and  gave  him  a  few  lines  of  hiero- 
glyphics which  he  said  were  'an  exact  copy  from  the 
so-called  golden  plates.  Martin  took  these  to  New  York 
City  and  presented  them  to  Professor  Anthon,  the 
distinguished  classical  scholar. 

Returning  to  northern  New  York,  Harris  reported,  and 
Joseph  Smith  industriously  helped  to  circulate  the  report, 
that  Professor  Anthon  and  other  celebrated  linguists  in 
New  York,  after  examining  the  characters,  stated  that 
they  were  Egyptian  and  were  correctly  translated  ;  also, 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  21 

that  the  languages  of  Egypt,  Assyria,  and  Arabia  were  all 
truly  represented,  and  that  the  characters  were  genuine. 
When  Professor  Anthon  heard  of  this  report,  he  denounced 
it  as  a  falsehood  and  gave  a  written  description  of 
Martin's  visit  to  him,  from  which  the  following  is  an 
extract :  — 

The  whole  story  about  my  having  pronounced  the  Mormon- 
ite  inscription  to  be  "reformed  Egyptian  hieroglyphics'"  is 
perfectly  false.  The  farmer  said  that  he  had  been  requested 
to  contribute  a  sum  of  money  towards  the  publication  of  ls  The 
Golden  Book,"  the  contents  of  which  would,  as  he  had  been 
assured,  produce  an  entire  change  in  the  world  and  save  it 
from  ruin.  So  urgent  had  been  these  solicitations  that  he 
intended  selling  his  farm  and  handing  over  the  amount  re- 
ceived to  those  who  wished  to  publish  the  plates.  As  a  last 
precautionary  step,  however,  he  had  resolved  to  come  to  New 
York  and  obtain  the  opinion  of  the  learned  about  the  meaning 
of  the  paper.  I  began  to  regard  it  as  part  of  a  scheme  to 
cheat  the  farmer  of  his  money,  and  I  communicated  my 
suspicions  to  him,  warning  him  to  beware  of  rogues.  This 
paper  was  in  fact  a  singular  scrawl.  It  consisted  of  all  kinds 
of  crooked  characters  and  was  anything  else  than  Egyptian 
hieroglyphics.1 

In  Pennsylvania,  Joseph  Smith  ran  away  with  Emma 
Hale,  and  married  her,  to  the  bitter  grief  of  her  sensible 
and  honest  parents.  His  father-in-law,  Mr.  Isaac  Hale, 
some  years  later  gave  his  views  of  Smith's  character  as 
follows  :  — 

"  Smith  and  his  father  and  several  other  '  money- 
diggers  '  boarded  at  my  house  while  digging  in  a  mine. 
His  appearance  at  this  time  was  that  of  a  careless  young 
man,  not  very  well  educated,  and  very  saucy  and  insolent 
to  his  father.  Young  Smith  gave  the  money-diggers 
great  encouragement  at  first,  but  when   they  arrived  in 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints. 


22  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

digging  near  the  place  where  he  had  stated  an  immense 
treasure  would  be  found,  he  said  the  enchantment  was 
so  powerful  that  he  could  not  see.  They  then  became 
discouraged  and  soon  after  dispersed. 

' '  I  was  informed  that  they  had  brought  a  wonderful 
book  of  plates  with  them  ;  that  the  plates  were  then  in  a 
box  into  which  I  was  not  allowed  to  look.  I  informed 
him  that  if  there  was  anything  of  that  description  in  my 
house  which  I  was  not  allowed  to  see,  he  must  take  it 
away.  After  that  the  plates  were  said  to  be  hid  in  the 
woods."  l 

After  Joseph's  marriage,  and  after  he  had  begun  his 
so-called  translation  of  the  golden  plates,  Mr.  Hale 
states  that  he  visited  Joseph's  home  and  found  him 
and  Martin  Harris  translating.  Joseph  had  the  "  stone  " 
in  his  hat,  and  his  hat  over  his  face,  while  the  book  of 
plates  was  hid  in  the  woods. 

Despite  all  the  evidence  that  Smith's  golden  plates 
were  a  fraud,  and  despite  the  warnings  of  neighbors, 
and  of  his  wife's  opposition,  —  even  unto  separation 
from  him,  —  Harris  was  under  the  spell  of  the  prophet's 
influence,  and  paid  three  thousand  dollars  for  the 
publication  of  five  thousand  copies  of  the  Book  of 
Mormon. 

Harris  clung  to  the  fortunes  of  Smith  ;  was  reduced 
in  a  few  years  to  extreme  poverty  and  suffering  ;  became 
a  mental  wreck  ;  believed  that  his  every  thought  was  a 
revelation  ;  proclaimed  that  he  was  Elijah  the  prophet ; 
was  the  sport  of  street  boys  and  had  the  respect  of  no 
one  ;  and  when  he  could  no  longer  serve  the  Smiths  he 
was  expelled  from  the  Mormon  Church  and  branded  as 
one  who  was  ;'  a  negro  with  a  white  skin,"  and  "  beneath 

1  Mormon  Portraits. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  23 

the  contempt  of  a  gentleman."  He  followed  the  Mor- 
mons to  Utah  and  died  among  them  at  an  extreme  age, 
an  object  of  charity. 

Smith  instructed  the  printers  that  this  manuscript  was 
"  sacred,"  and  that  it  had  been  "strictly  commanded" 
by  revelation  that  not  the  least  change  should  be  made  in 
transferring  it  into  print.  The  printers,  however,  found 
the  manuscript  so  full  of  errors  in  spelling,  grammar, 
punctuation,  etc.,  that  they  refused  to  put  it  into  type 
in  this  discreditable  condition.  Smith  compromised  with 
them  and  the  work  went  on,  while  only  the  most  glaring 
errors  were  corrected. 

The  book  was  published  in  1830,  and  was  henceforth 
industriously  peddled  from  house  to  house  by  Harris 
and  the  Smith  family.  There  were  more  scoffers  than 
buyers  and  the  scheme  collapsed  as  a  financial  venture. 

The  real  source  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  has  been 
much  discussed  and  in  some  doubt,  but  recent  testimony, 
some  from  persons  still  living,  —  some  of  it  as  late  as 
November,  1887,  — taken  in  connection  with  undisputed 
facts  and  the  statements  of  scores  of  credible  witnesses 1 
during  the  whole  career  of  Joseph  Smith,  leaves  that 
question  no  longer  in  reasonable  doubt.  The  facts  ap- 
pear to  be  as  follows  :  — 

Joseph  Smith  had  told  his  story  of  the  golden  plates, 
keeping  it  spread  about  for  some  years  ;  Martin  Harris 
had  been  his  scribe,  and  together  they  had  "  translated" 
one  hundred  and  sixteen  manuscript  pages,  Harris  using 
the  pen  while  Joseph  kept  his  face  in  "  the  old  white 
hat."  Then  Mrs.  Harris  became  so  indignant  at  the 
proceedings  of  "  the  scoundrel  and  his  dupe,"  that  she 

1  Among  these  witnesses  is  Mr.  Z.  Rudolph,  the  father  of  Mrs.  James 
A.  Garfield. 


24  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

arose  in  the  night,  got  possession  of  one  hundred  and 
sixteen  pages  of  manuscript  and  committed  them  to 
the  flames.  Smith  then  (July,  1828)  abandoned  his  work 
for  some  months.  Meantime  he  became  acquainted  with 
Eev.  Sidney  Rigdon,  who  was  henceforth  to  figure  prom- 
inently in  the  origin  of  Mormonism. 

Rigdon  was  a  Campbellite  preacher  of  prominence  in 
northern  Ohio,  of  some  education  and  of  decided  ability 
as  a  speaker.  Being  of  a  restless,  changeable  disposi- 
tion, he  was  impressed  by  Smith's  fabrications  of  mar- 
velous experiences.  About  this  time  he  came  into  pos- 
session of  a  manuscript  entitled  "  Manuscript  Found." 
He  probably  borrowed  it'  from  a  printing-office  in  Pitts- 
burg, Pennsylvania,  where  it  had  been  left  by  the  author 
for  publication  in  case  any  one  was  found  who  would 
furnish  the  money  to  pay  for  printing.  The  author  of 
this  manuscript  was  Rev.  Solomon  Spaulding,  a  gradu- 
ate of  Dartmouth  College,  a  Presbyterian  evangelist, 
who  had  given  special  attention  to  the  question  as 
to  what  had  become  of  the  "lost  tribes"  of  Israel. 
While  residing  at  Conneaut,  northern  Ohio,  some  human 
bones  of  large  size  were  dug  up  in  that  vicinity, 
which  greatly  excited  his  interest,  and  he  wondered  if 
they  were  not  relics  of  the  "lost  tribes."  This  led 
him  to  write  a  fiction  in  which  he  gave  wings  to  his 
imagination  and  full  scope  to  his  interest  in  the  lost 
tribes  by  connecting  them  with  the  bones  which  had  been 
found.  In  this  fiction  he  followed  these  tribes  across 
the  seas  to  the  western  world  ;  peopled  North  and  South 
America  with  them  ;  had  mighty  hosts  fight  battles  with 
results  more  sanguinary  than  any  ever  known  in  real 
history.  Spaulding  traveled  much,  and  wherever  he 
went  he   read,   to  whomsoever  would  listen,  his    story, 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  25 

which  he  called  "  Manuscript    Found."     To    carry  out 
the   idea  of   the   plot,  he  used  an  ancient  style  of  lan- 
guage   and   coined    strange  names   for   his   heroes.      In 
this  way  Spaulding's  story  became  well  known  to  many 
in   Ohio,   Pennsylvania,    and    New  York.      Afterwards 
(1812)     he    moved    to    Pittsburg,   Pennsylvania,     and, 
having  no  means  to  get   his   fiction   published   himself, 
left  it  with   the   printers,   Patterson  Brothers,  of   Pitts- 
burg, to  be  published,  "if  the  way  should  open."     Four 
years    afterwards,    Spaulding    died    at    Amity,     Wash- 
ington County,  Pennsylvania.     The  manuscript  remained 
with  Patterson  Brothers  for  some  years,   was   read   by 
many  persons,  among  whom  was   Sidney   Rigdon,   and 
linallyit  was  carried  away  and  never  returned.     There 
is  some  evidence  going  to  show  that  Rigdon  knew  what 
"necame  of  this  "  Manuscript  Found." 

Although  it  can  not  be  fully  proved,  yet  the  writer  is 
convinced  that  the  reading  of  the  fiction,  "  Manuscript 
Fjound,"  by  Sidney  Ridgon,  and  the  hearing  about  its 
contents  by  Joseph  Smith,  suggested  to  these  two 
scvhemers  the  historical  basis  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  ; 
th'at  they  united  their  wits  in  the  preparation  of  the 
bcok,  and  that  it  may  have  been  copied  largely  from 
so:  me  other  unpublished  manuscript  left  by  the  same 
So  lomon  Spaulding.  Most  of  the  evidence  points  clearly 
toTvvard  the  conclusion  that  in  some  way — not  yet  fully 
known,  and  which  may  never  be  known  —  the  Book  of 
Mc  >rmon  owes  its  origin  to  the  unpublished  manuscripts 
of    Spaulding.1 

"Thus  Mormonism  was  fairly  set  afloat  upon  its  destroy- 
ing \  course,  and  the  trio  who  are  chiefly  responsible  are 

1  Tmis  inquiry  is  pursued  in  detail  in  "  New  Light  on  Mormonism,"  by 
Mrs.  \Ellen  E.  Dickinson.    New  York :  Funk  &  Wagnalls. 


26  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Joseph  Smith,  who  concocted  and  managed   the   frav; 
Sidney  Bigdon,  who  furnished  the   brains  and   the   lit' 
learning ;    and    Martin    Harris,    who     contributed     t. 
money,    and  stripped    himself    of    means,    home,   family 
and  character. 

The  false  prophet  had  now  entered  upon  the  gres 
Bcheme  to  which  he  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  life  an 
which  has  stamped  his  name  with  infamy.  lie  did  n< 
plan  the  end  from  the  beginning.  His  villainy  waa  I 
growth.  From  low  frauds  in  secular  things,  he  no- 
descended  to  that  bottomless  pit  in  character  which  seel; 
Id  its  crimes  with  the  name  of  religion.  Be  calld 
his  book,  itself  a  theft,  a  new  Bible.  His  scheme  no- 
was  to  win  converts  without  requiring  them  to  breai 
away  from  their  old  faith,  but  merely  accept  his  late- 
revelations,  which  he  claimed  were  a  continuation  of  tie 
heavenly  communications  which  had  been  vouchsafed  o 
the  prophets  of  Israel. 

Kev.  Sidney  Ixigdou.  who  did   more   perhaps   than   an- 
other to  draw   into   Mormonism  a   sufficient  following  to 
give  it  standing  as  a   sect,   was  always   ready  to   preach 
with  fiery  earnestness  on  one  day,  and   on    the  next  d  iy 
to  reject   the   doctrines   so   taught,    and    advocate   soi  ie 
new  thing.     After  becoming  a  Disciple  preacher  he  em- 
braced communistic  doctrines  and  sought  to  engraft  them 
upon  that  church.     Failing  in  this,  he  fell  in  with  Joseph 
Smith  and  helped  him  to  found  a  false  religion   in  wbiich 
there  should  be  ample  room   for   every  wild  and  wielded 
notion  which  the  evil  one  could  sugg  st   to  willing  tools, 
rward  he  was  the   leading  intellect  among    ithe 
Mormons  until  he  was  expelled  from  them   at   Nam 
He  then  went  to  Pennsylvania,   started  a   u  communi  ty  " 
farm,  and  died  at  an  advanced  age.  t 


TJie  Mormon  Delusion.  27 

All  the  established  facts  point  to  one  conclusion, 
namely :  that  Sidney  Rigdon  heard  of  Joseph  Smith's 
story  of  the  golden  plates ;  that  he  showed  to  Smith 
the  Spaulding  manuscript  which  he  had  "  borrowed'* 
from  the  printing-office  in  Pittsburg ;  that  these  two 
devised  the  scheme  of  the  Mormon  Bible  and  the  Mor- 
mon Church  ;  that  Rigdon  kept  in  the  background  until 
he  had,  by  even  more  wild  and  visionary  preaching  than 
was  his  wont,  prepared  many  of  his  flock  to  accept  Mor- 
monism,  when  he  should  himself  appear  to  become  a 
convert  to  it ;  that  by  arrangement  with  Joseph  Smith, 
Parley  Pratt,  and  Oliver  Cowdery,  Sidney  Rigdon  went 
through  the  farce  of  a  pretended  resistance  to  the  claims 
of  Mormonism  and  a  final  yielding ;  and  the  final  de- 
nouement of  the  fraud  was  Rigdon's  public  renuncia- 
tion of  his  former  faith  and  confessed  conversion  to 
Mormonism. 

In  view  of  all  these  deceitful  plans  to  palm  off  the 
stupid  tale  about  the  golden  plates  being  hid  for  centu- 
ries in  the  hill  Cumorah  in  New  York,  the  following 
verses,  which  have  long  had  a  place  in  the  Mormon 
hymn-book,  startle  one  with  their  striking  suggestions  of 
the  gullibility  of  the  human  species  :  — 


An  angel  came  down  from  the  mansions  of  glory, 
And  told  that  a  record  was  hid  in  Cumorah, 
Containing  the  fullness  of  Jesus'  Gospel, 
And  also  the  cov'nant  to  gather  His  people. 


He  comes  to  show  the  Gospel  plan 
In  fullness  to  benighted  man  ; 
Lo !  from  Cumorah's  lonely  hill, 
There  comes  a  record  of  God's  will. 


28  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Translated  by  the  power  of  God, 
His  voice  bears  record  to  His  word. 
Again  an  angel  did  appear, 
As  witnesses  do  record  bear. 

An  angel  from  on  high, 

The  long,  long  silence  broke ; 
Descending  from  the  sky, 
These  gracious  words  he  spoke : 
Lo !  in  Cumorah's  lonely  hill, 
A  sacred  record  lies  concealed. 

Sealed  by  Moroni's  hand, 

It  has  for  ages  lain, 
To  wait  the  Lord's  command, 
From  dust  to  speak  again. 
It  shall  again  to  light  come  forth, 
To  usher  in  Christ's  reign  on  earth. 

It  speaks  of  Joseph's  seed, 

And  makes  the  remnant  known 
Of  nations  long  since  dead, 
Who  once  had  dwelt  alone. 
The  fullness  of  the  Gospel,  too, 
Its  pages  will  reveal  to  view. 

The  time  is  now  fulfilled, 
The  long  expected  day ! 

Mr.  Z.  Rudolph,  the  father  of  Mrs.  James  A.  Garfield, 
recently  declared  that,  "  during  the  winter  previous  to 
the  appearance  of  the  Book  of  Mormon,  Rigdon  was  in 
the  habit  of  spending  weeks  away  from  his  home,  going 
no  one  knew  where  ;  and  that  he  often  appeared  very 
pre-occupied  and  would  indulge  in  dreamy,  imaginative 
talks  which  puzzled  those  who  listened.  When  the  Book 
of  Mormon  appeared  and  Rigdon  joined  in  the  advocacy 
of  the  new  religion,  the  suspicion  was  at  once  aroused 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  29 

that  he  was  one  of  the  framers  of  the  new  doctrines,  and 
probably  was  not  ignorant  of  the  authorship  of  the  book." 

We  have  the  following  significant  statement  from  Mr. 
D.  Atwater,  who  sat  under  Rigdon's  preaching  in  the 
Mantua  church :  — 

"  During  the  winter  preceding  the  advent  of  the  book, 
Rigdou  had  absented  himself  from  his  communistic  com- 
munity at  Kirtland  for  several  weeks,  explaining  to  no 
one  his  whereabouts,  and  carrying  himself  with  a  myste- 
rious manner  on  his  return.  That  he  was  with  Smith 
during  this  absence,  and  engaged  in  the  promotion  of 
their  scheme,  there  can  be  little  doubt.  In  his  preaching 
during  this  absence  he  seemed  to  be  paving  the  way  for 
some  new  things  in  the  spiritual  life  of  his  community  ; 
and  much  in  his  course  that  was  not  then  understood 
became  as  clear  as  noontide  in  the  light  of  after-events. 
He  prepared  the  ground  with  great  care,  so  that  the 
transplanted  tree,  when  it  was  brought  into  their  midst, 
would  take  sure  root.  He  declared  to  his  people  that  he 
did  not  possess  the  full  comfort  of  his  religion  as  he 
desired,  and  stood  in  the  attitude  of  one  seeking  new 
light.  He  so  shaped  the  thought  of  those  who  looked  up 
to  him  as  a  spiritual  guide  that  they  were  watching  night 
and  morning  for  the  coming  of  a  sign,  and  were  prepared 
for  any  new  trend  of  belief  to  which  their  ignorant  cre- 
dulity should  be  directed.  Always  fervent,  and  by  nature 
a  powerful  actor,  Rigdon  played  upon  their  souls  with 
such  power  and  to  such  purpose  as  he  willed,  and  carried 
them  a  long  way  toward  the  new  creed  before  they  had 
knowledge  of  its  existence."  l 

At  the  appointed  time  the  forerunners  of  the  Mormon 
Church   appeared  in  northern  Ohio,   and  particularly  in 

1  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  p.  71. 


30  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Kirtland  and  among  Rigdon's  congregation  of  Disciples, 
who  had  been  so  well  prepared  by  his  previous  loose  and 
uprooting  harangues.  "The  sensation  was  like  the 
sparkle  and  exhilaration  of  new  wine,  and  the  whole 
community  opened  its  mouth  and  stood  waiting,  as  men 
perpetually  athirst."  Y 

Rigdon  pretended  to  assail  the  new  doctrines  and  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  and  public  debates  followed  until 
the  whole  community  became  greatly  excited.  He 
secluded  himself  for  two  days,  and  then  suddenly 
re-appeared  and  announced  his  conversion  to  Mormon- 
ism,  declaring  to  his  now  confused  flock  that  God  had 
given  him  "  a  sign  "  that  all  other  religions  were  corrupt 
and  that  the  Book  of  Mormon  was  a  divine  revelation. 
"  Imagination  can  well  measure  the  effect  of  this  surren- 
der upon  Rigdon's  simple  followers.  The  last  stay  upon 
which  their  doubt  hung  gave  way,  and  they  went  into  the 
new  fold  almost  en  masse.  Rigdon  and  his  wife  were 
publicly  baptized  by  Cowdery  on  the  Sabbath  following. 
The  results  of  this  surrender  far  outran  the  changes  of 
temper  and  feeling  in  one  man.  New  life  was  given  to 
the  struggling  and  uncertain  Mormon  Church  by  the 
accession  within  a  short  period  of  over  one  hundred 
members ;  and  a  house  of  refuge  was  provided  in  its 
days  of  weakness  and  need."  2 

While  Joseph  Smith's  Book  of  Mormon  was  going 
through  the  press,  he  was  diligently  at  work  in  other 
directions  carrying  out  the  plan  perfected  by  himself 
and  Sidney  Rigdon  for  a  new  Bible,  a  new  sect,  and 
the  notoriety,  license,  and  wealth  which  they  confidently 
expected  would  follow.     On  April  6,  1830,  he  organized 

1  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  p.  77. 
-Ibid,  p.  81. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  31 

his  church.  In  June  of  the  same  year  the  membership 
had  grown  to  thirty  persons. 

Smith  announced  that  he  and  Cowdery  had  received 
authority  from  the  Holy  Spirit  to  baptize  each  other. 
"  From  this  date  forward  Smith  threw  off  all  reserve, 
and  claimed  in  public  everywhere  full  possession  of  the 
powers  and  responsibilities  that  he  held  to  through  all 
his  after-life.  Angels  constantly  visited  him  and  minis- 
tered unto  him  ;  the  will  of  the  Lord  was  ever  present 
to  him  in  special  revelations  ;  men  were  called,  ordained, 
and  sent  hither  and  thither  at  command  ;  and  he  became, 
in  the  language  of  a  Mormon  hymn,  '  the  mouth-piece  of 
God.'  " ! 

But  the  notoriously  bad  character  of  the  Smith  family 
was  so  well  known  in  the  vicinity  of  Manchester  and 
Palmyra,  New  York,  that  Smith  foresaw  that  his  new- 
church  scheme  could  not  succeed  unless  transplanted  to 
some  distant  community.  Even  the  eloquence  and  fervor 
of  Sidney  Rigdon,  who  came  to  Palmyra  and  preached 
the  new  doctrines,  fell  flat  upon  the  hearers,  and  he  was 
refused  even  a  hall  in  which  to  continue  his  harangues. 

At  Kirtland,  Ohio,  the  circumstances  were  very  favor- 
able for  introducing  the  new  sect.  Sidney  Rigclon's 
preaching  had  prepared  the  way  for  Mormonism,  and 
here  it  first  took  deep  rooting.  Joseph  Smith,  accord- 
ing to  his  usual  convenient  custom,  now  announced  that 
he  had  received  a  "revelation"  which  was  in  exact 
conformity  to  his  own  desires  and  plans,  namely :  that 
Kirtland  was  the  "Promised  Land"  of  the  Mormons; 
that  the  church  was  to  be  removed  there  ;  and  he  sent 
thither  David  Whitmer  to  take  charge  of  the  new  church. 

The  Smith   family  arrived   in   Kirtland   in  February, 

1  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  p.  73. 


32  Tlie  Mormon  Delusion. 

1831,  and  the  prophet  found  himself  an  object  of 
wonder  and  reverence  to  his  followers,  and  of  curiosity 
to  all. 

He  made  the  most  of  the  situation,  and  was  full  of 
"  revelations."  Finding  that  his  own  supposed  superior- 
ity to  his  brethren  lay  iu  his  alleged  "revelations  from 
the  Lord,"  he  promptly  proceeded  to  monopolize  this 
privilege  by  announcing  a  new  revelation,  as  follows :  — 

"Behold,  verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  no  one  shall 
be  appointed  to  receive  commandments  and  revelations 
in  this  church  excepting  my  servant,  Joseph  Smith, 
Jr.  .  .  .  with  power   and   authority  unto   the   church." 

Other  timely  revelations  announced  that  his  wife 
Emma  was  "to  be  supported  from  the  church;"  that 
the  Mormons  were  to  build  their  prophet  a  dwelling- 
house  ;  that  most  of  the  leading  Mormons  were  to  go 
forth  on  missions  and  preach  the  new  gospel. 

"The  love  of  the  marvelous  to  which  men  are  heir, 
the  preaching  of  the  many  missionaries  sent  hither  and 
thither,  and  the  personal  efforts  of  Rigdon  and  Smith 
had  their  natural  results,  and  by  May  numerous  additions 
had  been  made  to  the  little  church.  Converts  came  from 
all  directions,  many  of  them  from  New  York  and  the  New 
England  States.  Some  fifty  families  had  come  from  the 
vicinity  of  Smith's  old  home.  The  lines  along  which  the 
founders  of  the  creed  had  done  their  work  were  found  to 
be  those  most  nearly  allied  to  human  superstition  and 
fear,  and  each  successful  venture  gave  new  encourage- 
ment for  another  trial  in  the  same  direction."  1 

The  Christian  ministers  and  churches  in  north-eastern 
Ohio  did  not  look  on  in  silence  and  inactivity  while  this 
gathering   flood  of    fraud   and   fanaticism  was  sweeping 

1  Early  Days  of  Mormonism. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  33 

many  of  their  own  flocks  away  from  the  moorings  of  a 
sound  faith,  filling  all  that  country  with  an  unhealthy 
excitement,  and  giving  the  vicinity  an  unenviable  repu- 
tation abroad.  They  accordingly  attacked  the  new 
delusion  with  all  their  power  and  with  their  combined 
forces.  Alexander  Campbell  came  to  the  rescue  of  his 
Disciple  churches  and  spent  twenty-two  days  in  the 
vicinity  of  Kirtland,  throwing  all  his  energies  into  the 
combat,  and  also  published  a  book  exposing  the  absurd 
claims  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  Mormonism  was  put 
to  a  test  greater  than  it  could  bear,  and  these  onslaughts 
had  utterly  broken  it  down  had  it  not  been  for  the  con- 
stant accessions  which  it  was  receiving  from  distant 
places  where  its  follies  and  absurdities  had  not  been 
exposed.  It  should  be  carefully  noted  that  this  same 
fact  has  kept  Mormonism  alive  and  growing  from  that 
day  to  this.  It  could  live  at  Kirtland  only  on  its 
recruits  from  outside  ;  the  same  inflow  sustained  it  for 
a  time  in  Missouri ;  at  Nauvoo,  in  Illinois,  the  local 
hostility  would  soon  have  throttled  it,  but,  instead,  it 
grew  like  a  rank  weed  by  the  numbers  that  poured  in 
from  far-distant  states  ;  and  again,  when  transplanted  to 
Utah,  the  whole  world  was  laid  under  tribute  and  its 
recruiting  streams  of  deceived  humanity  and  wild  fanat- 
icism poured  in  from  every  quarter  of  the  globe. 
Mormonism  has  lived  unto  this  hour  upon  the  fresh 
victims  which  its  insatiable  fanaticism  and  lust  have 
dragged  into  its  meshes. 

So  at  Kirtland  for  a  time  Mormonism  grew,  despite 
all  crushing  blows  brought  against  it.  Rev.  Ezra  Booth, 
a  Methodist,  and  Rev.  Symonds  Ryder,  a  Disciple, 
became  converts,  and  helped  to  draw  many  others  into 
the  delusion  ;  but  being  honest  men  at  heart  and  really 


34  Tlie  Mormon  Delusion. 

deceived,  they  soon  publicly  renounced  their  error,  and 
henceforth  fought  Mormonism  with  an  energy  and  zeal 
which  could  only  be  shown  by  those  who  had  experienced 
the  power  of  its  allurements  and  tasted  the  bitterness  of 
its  poisoned  cup. 

"The  zeal  of  the  missionaries  at  various  points  had 
been  prolific  of  results,  and  almost  every  day  saw  an 
accession  of  new  members  to  the  little  community. 
Many  came  from  a  distance,  and  among  them  were 
families  of  character  and  wealth.  Smith  was  treated 
with  the  consideration  due  one  to  whom  the  mantle  of 
Elijah  and  the  rod  of  Aaron  had  fallen  in  the  direct 
line  of  prophetic  heirship,  aud  was  loved  by  man}7  and 
feared  by  all.  One  who  was  present  during  these  scenes 
declares  that  '  Kirtland  presented  the  appearance  of  a 
modern  religious  Mecca.  Like  Eastern  pilgrims,  they 
came  full  of  zeal  for  their  new  religion.  They  came  in 
rude  vehicles,  on  horseback,  on  foot.  They  came  almost 
every  way,  filling,  on  their  arrival,  every  house,  shop, 
aud  barn  to  the  utmost  capacity.'"1 

The  poets  came  forth  in  honor  of  their  prophet,  and 
the  people  sang  with  enthusiasm  such  stanzas  as 
these :  — 

Now  we  '11  sing  with  one  accord, 
For  a  Prophet  of  the  Lord, 
Bringing  forth  His  precious  word, 
Cheers  the  Saints  as  anciently. 

Even  Joseph  he  inspired, 
Yea,  his  heart  he  truly  fired, 
With  the  light  that  he  desired, 
For  the  work  of  righteousness. 

1  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  p.  109. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  6b 

And  the  Book  of  Mormon,  true, 
With  its  Cov'nant,  ever  new, 
For  the  Gentile  and  the  Jew, 
He  translated  sacredly. 

We  'ye  found  the  way  the  Prophets  went, 

Who  lived  in  days  of  yore ; 
Another  Prophet  now  is  sent, 

This  knowledge  to  restore. 


CHAPTER   II. 


WESTWARD     FLIGHT.  CAST    OUT    FROM    CIVILIZATION.  

THE    PROPHET    KILLED. 

JOSEPH  SMITH  seemed  to  anticipate  that  the 
civilization  of  northern  Ohio  would  not  long  tol- 
erate his  pretensions  and  unclean  practices,  and  to  have 
made  some  preparations  for  an  early  removal.  Some 
of  his  elders  who  were  in  the  west  on  "  missions  "  wrote 
to  him  such  glowing  accounts  of  the  country  in  Missouri 
that  in  June,  1831,  he  announced  another  "revelation," 
that  God  had  chosen  Independence,  Missouri,  as  the 
"  Promised  Land,"  and  that  most  of  the  leading  Mormon 
men  were  to  start  within  two  weeks  to  Missouri,  going 
by  "twos"  on  separate  routes  and  preaching  Mormon- 
ism  wherever  hearers  could  be  gathered.  The  prophet 
himself  also  went  via  Cincinnati,  Louisville,  and  St.  Louis. 
At  Independence  a  large  tract  of  land  was  purchased, 
and  "  the  foundations  of  Zion  "  were  laid  with  many  cere- 
monies by  the  thirty  adherents  who  were  present.     Smith 


36  Tlie  Mormon  Delusion. 

proclaimed  that  here  was  to  be  the  chosen  city  of  God, 
excelling  in  glory  all  the  cities  of  the  world ;  its  streets 
were  to  be  paved  with  gold. 

"  All  who  escaped  the  general  destruction  which  was 
soon  to  take  place  would  there  assemble  with  all  their 
wealth  ;  the  ten  lost  tribes  of  Israel  had  been  discovered 
in  their  retreat  in  the  vicinity  of  the  North  Pole,  where 
they  had  for  ages  been  secluded  by  immense  barriers 
of  ice,  and  become  vastly  rich  ;  the  ice  in  a  few  years 
was  to  be  melted  away,  when  those  tribes,  with  St.  John 
and  some  of  the  Nephites,  which  the  Book  of  Mormon 
had  immortalized,  would  be  seen  making  their  appear- 
ance in  the  new  city,  loaded  with  immense  quantities  of 
gold  and  silver. 

"  Under  the  quickening  effects  of  this  generous  promise 
of  help  and  riches,  the  poor  dupes  dug  and  delved  and 
carried  as  Smith  ordered,  and  counted  pain  and  isolation 
and  exile  as  nothing  in  comparison  with  the  spiritual  and 
temporal  rewards  that  were  to  be."1 

Joseph  and  his  band  in  Missouri,  after  having  a  bitter 
quarrel  which  came  near  scattering  them,  returned  to 
Kirtland,  many  of  them  quite  discouraged  and  some  with 
their  eyes  opened.  He  found  his  flock  in  Ohio  in  such 
a  state  that  it  required  all  his  cunning  and  ingenuity  to 
hold  them  together.  He  was,  however,  equal  to  the 
occasion,  and  assumed  new  powers  and  began  new  enter- 
prises, which  made  his  followers  forget  their  doubts 
and  unite  in  their  labors.  A  store  was  opened,  a  school 
and  newspaper  started,  and  the  "gift  of  tongues"  was 
granted  to  the  laity.  In  1833  the  Kirtland  Mormon  tem- 
ple was  begun,  and  was  completed  two  years  later. 

At  their  testimony  meetings  whatever  senseless  jargon 

1  Early  Daya  of  Mormonism,  pp.  97,  98. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  37 

a  speaker  might  utter,  the  next  speaker  would  give  "  the 
interpretation,"  and  both  would  be  claimed  to  be  speak- 
ing by  divine  inspiration.  One  member  lost  his  faith 
in  "the  gift"  as  well  as  in  Mormonism  by  delivering 
some  remarks  in  the  Choctaw  language,  which  he  under- 
stood, and  hearing  another  brother  immediately  arise 
and  give  the  interpretation  in  English,  the  whole  inter- 
pretation bemg  upon  entirely  another  theme  ! 

One  of  Smith's  attempts  to  perform  a  miracle  brought 
upon  him  life-long  ridicule.  Always  claiming  to  achieve 
some  miracle  in  blasphemous  imitation  of  those  recorded 
in  the  New  Testament,  he  caused  it  to  be  announced 
that  on  a  certain  evening  he  would  walk  upon  the 
water.  This  announcement  awakened  great  interest ; 
unbelievers  in  the  vicinity  carefully  watched  the  water 
during  the  previous  night,  and  saw  several  of  the 
leading  Mormons  vigorously  at  work  driving  forked 
sticks  into  the  ground  under  the  water ;  on  these  they 
placed  planks  which  were  thus  invisible,  being  under 
the  water.  When  the  work  was  completed  at  near  day- 
light, and  the  "believing  saints"  had  gone  home,  one 
of  the  planks  was  quietly  removed  by  a  disbeliever. 
The  next  evening  in  the  presence  of  a  large  crowd, 
the  prophet,  Joseph  Smith,  pompously  arrayed  in  robes, 
proceeded  into  the  water  and  began  to  walk  upon  it, 
his  feet  being  some  six  inches  under  the  surface.  He 
was  loudly  declaiming  what  wonders  could  be  done  by 
those  who  had  faith,  when  suddenly  he  fell  headlong 
into  the  river,  amid  the  laughter  and  jeers  of  the  G-entiles 
present.  True  to  the  cunning  which  never  deserted  him, 
upon  reaching  the  shore,  he  exclaimed:  "O  ye  of  little 
faith  !  if  you  had  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  I 
could  remove  mountains." 


38  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

"  The  men  who  had  been  sent  into  the  Gentile  world 
to  warn  it  against  the  wrath  to  come  did  not  hesitate  to 
work,  when  possible,  upon  the  superstitious  fears  of  their 
hearers.  Many  who  listened  made  haste  to  escape  the 
threatened  wrath,  and  sold  their  possessions  for  such 
price  as  they  could  command,  and,  hurrying  to  Kirtland, 
cast  their  lot  in  with  the  Mormon  Church.  It  was 
preached  through  western  New  York  that  the  state  would 
be  sunk  within  two  years,  and  that  only  such  places  as 
were  designated  as  stakes  of  Zion  would  escape."  l 

One  of  Smith's  prophecies  was  as  follows  :  — 

"Let  the  bishop  go  into  the  city  of  New  York,  and 
also  to  the  city  of  Albany,  and  also  to  the  city  of 
Boston,  and  warn  the  people  of  these  cities,  with  the 
sound  of  the  gospel,  with  a  loud  voice,  of  the  desolation 
and  the  dread  affliction  which  awaits  them  if  they  do 
reject  this  thing ;  for  if  they  do  reject  these  things,  the 
hour  of  their  judgment  is  nigh  and  their  houses  shall  be 
left  unto  them  desolate." 

A  sick  Mormon  was  advised  to  take  no  medicine,  as 
the  elders  could  cure  him  by  the  laying  on  of  hands. 
When  too  far  gone  for  the  reach  of  medicines  he  saw 
his  mistake  and  warned  others.  The  prophet  took  the 
crippled  hand  of  one  of  his  elders,  and  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  pronounced  it  cured,  but  it  never  was  any 
better.  Another  crippled  elder  had  faith  to  let  the 
prophet  treat  him,  but  got  no  relief.  The  child  of  a 
Mormon  family  was  seriously  ill ;  the  troubled  parents 
would  have  a  physician,  but  yielded  to  the  assurances 
of  Smith  and  Rigdon  that  they  could  heal  it.  After 
their  mummeries  were  repeated  over  the  child,  it  died. 
The  parents  still  kept  their  faith  when  they  were  prom- 

1  Early  Days  of  Morraouism,  p.  125. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  39 

ised  that  their  child  should  now  be  raised  from  the  dead, 
and  Smith  had  the  wicked  effrontery  to  go  through  a 
pretence  of  trial.  When  the  deceived  parents  finally 
buried  their  loved  one  they  buried  with  it  all  their  faith 
in  Mormonism.  These  are  fair  samples  of  Mormon 
miracles.  Sometimes,  by  some  jugglery  or  favoring 
accident,  they  secured  a  plausible  claim  to  miraculous 
healing,  and  by  these  held  their  easy  dupes  to  their 
faith. 

The  missionaries  of  the  new  church  were  now  zeal- 
ously preaching  the  faith  in  nearly  every  state  in  the 
Union,  and  Mormon  "stakes"  began  to  spring  up  in 
nearly  all  the  states  of  the  east  and  the  interior.  In 
1836  the  Mormons  claimed  that  their  adherents  in  the 
United  States  numbered  forty-five  thousand. 

As  Kirtland  grew  in  size,  Mormon  business  affairs 
increased  also.  Joseph  Smith's  eye  was  alert  to  any 
pecuniary  advantages  which  the  situation  offered.  A 
"revelation"  now  appeared  commanding  the  starting 
of  a  Mormon  bank  by  Smith  and  Rigdon,  which  was 
"to  swallow  up  all  other  banks."  The  legislature 
refused  a  charter,  but  this  was  not  to  hinder  a  bank 
which  had  the  "divine  sanction"!  After  the  most 
strenuous  efforts  to  gather  funds  to  start  the  bank,  five 
thousand  dollars  was  the  actual  paid-in  capital ;  over 
fifty  thousand  dollars  in  notes  of  the  bank  were  issued. 
It  was  announced  that  the  bank  had  "  a  capital  of  four 
millions  of  dollars,"  and  the  bold  prophet  opened  its 
doors  "  for  business."  Its  chief  business  proved  to  be 
the  receiving  of  funds  which  the  depositors  never  saw 
again,  and  the  issuing  of  its  own  notes  with  no  provision 
for  their  redemption.  But  this  community  had  "  faith," 
and  large  amounts  of  these  notes  went  into  circulation, 


40  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

and  "the  Church,"  especially  Smith  ana  Rigdon,  pros- 
pered for  a  season. 

Many  of  the  faithful  moved  on  to  the  "  Zion  "  in 
Missouri,  until  most  of  the  older  leaders  had  gone. 
Many  who  remained  fell  away  from  their  faith  ;  others 
were  discontented ;  quarrels,  schisms,  expulsions,  and 
open  rebellion  were  frequent  experiences. 

The  bank  closed  its  doors.  Arrest  and  imprisonment 
were  now  likely  to  fall  upon  the  prophet  and  his  vice- 
conspirator,  Rigdon,  at  any  moment.  Securing  revolvers 
and  fleet  horses,  this  pair  set  out  hastily  (January,  1838) 
for  a  night  ride  westward.  For  two  hundred  miles  the 
officers  of  the  law  pursued  them  in  vain,  and  then  gave 
up  the  chase.  Smith  afterwards  told  that  one  night 
these  officers  occupied  an  adjoining  room  in  the  same 
hotel  where  he  and  Rigdon  were  staying,  but  were  not 
aware  that  their  game  was  so  near  at  hand.  The  fleeing 
prophet  reached  his  followers  in  Missouri  in  the  fol- 
lowing March,  where  he  began  again  the  same  tactics 
which  he  had  employed  at  Kirtland. 

Mr.  S.  F.  Whitney,  of  Willoughby,  Ohio,  a  reliable 
eye-witness,  says  :  — 

"  The  Mormons  taught  their  followers  that  they  were 
to  possess  all  things.  Foraging  among  the  Gentiles  they 
called  'sucking  the  milk  of  the  Gentiles.'  .  .  .  The  Mor- 
mon leaders  brought  to  Kirtland  a  wretched  set,  then 
swindled  and  forsook  them.  Those  who  remained  gener- 
ally became  infidels,  atheists,  or  spiritualists." 

It  was  a  favorite  method  with  Smith  to  get  new 
converts  to  put  their  money  into  his  hands,  which  they 
were  likely  never  to  see  again.  All  along  Mormon  history 
this  has  been  and  is  to-day  a  commoD  practice  with 
Mormon    elders.      In  1838    another  trustworthy  witness 


TJie  Mormon  Delusion.  41 

wrote:  "The  leading  Mormons  have  aggrandized  them- 
selves and  families  until  they  have  reduced  their  followers 
to  wretchedness  and  want.  For  the  year  past  their  lives 
have  been  one  continued  scene  of  lying,  deception,  and 
fraud,  and  that,  too,  in  the  name  of  God."  1 

For  three  years  prior  to  the  disgraceful  flight  of  Joseph 
Smith  from  Kirtland,  small  bands  of  Mormons  had  been 
coming  into  several  counties  of  Missouri.  The  counties 
of  Clay,  Carroll,  Jackson,  Davies,  and  Caldwell  were  the 
unfortunate  recipients  of  these  troublesome  people.  In 
each  place  there  rapidly  developed  a  strong  enmity 
between  the  Mormons  and  the  other  citizens  of  the 
vicinity.  The  attitude  and  claims  of  the  Mormons 
were  very  irritating  to  their  neighbors.  The  Mormons 
claimed  to  be  the  chosen  people  of  God ;  they  were 
soon  to  possess  all  the  land  in  that  part  of  the  country, 
and  finally  the  whole  earth ;  and  sudden  destruction  from 
God  was  to  come  upon  their  Gentile  neighbors,  and  over- 
throw all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  who  were  not 
Mormons.  Then  the  Saints  were  bigoted  and  clannish. 
To  "  suck  the  milk  of  the  Gentiles "  was  their  only 
object  when  they  deigned  to  associate  with  the  "  cor- 
rupt world "  outside  their  own  sect.  They  voted  at 
all  times  as  one  man  the  ticket  dictated  to  them  by 
their  priests  (as  they  have  since  continued  to  do)  ;  they 
were  disloyal  to  all  interests  of  the  community  as  a 
whole,  to  the  state,  and  to  the  nation,  save  only  as 
such  interests  chanced  to  favor  their  own  narrow  and 
selfish  sectarianism.  Added  to  these  were  their  wild 
fanaticism,  low  morals,  and  many  crimes.  Their  hands 
were  against  every  man,  and  every  man's  hand  was 
against  them.     Many  outrages  were  committed  on  both 

1  Naked  Truths  about  Mormonism,  by  A.  B.  Deming,  Oakland,  Cal. 


42  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

sides.  The  generating  force  at  the  center,  however, 
was  that  the  beliefs  and  practices  of  the  Mormons 
were  shocking  to  the  common  instincts  and  baleful 
to  the  most  sacred  interests  of  the  community.  That 
community  rebelled  against  this  incoming  poison,  and  cast 
it  forth.  One  hostile  demonstration  followed  another  in 
quick  succession  —  threats,  warnings,  private  vengeance, 
fights  at  the  election  polls,  mobs,  house-burnings,  assas- 
sinations, arrests,  imprisonments,  the  state  militia,  the 
governor's  proclamations,  generals  —  until  the  Mormons 
yielded  to  the  stinging  enmity  which  surrounded  them, 
and  departed.  It  wTas  estimated  that  at  one  time  six 
thousand  citizens,  including  the  state  militia,  were  under 
arms  against  them. 

From  all  sides  the  fleeing  Mormons  gathered  in  large 
numbers  at  Far  West,  their  headquarters  in  Caldwell 
County.  But  the  Missourians  were  not  content,  and 
determined  that  every  Mormon  settlement  in  the  state 
should  be  broken  up.  Mob  law  was  to  be  the  instrument. 
The  citizens  were  still  further  greatly  exasperated  by  a 
Fourth-of-July  address  to  the  Mormons  by  their  chief 
fanatic,  Sidney  Rigdon,  in  which  he  said  :  — 

' '  We  take  God  and  all  the  holy  angels  to  witness  this 
day  that  we  warn  all  men,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ, 
to  come  on  us  no  more  forever.  The  man,  or  the  set  of 
men,  who  attempts  it  does  so  at  the  expense  of  their 
lives ;  and  the  mob  that  comes  on  to  disturb  us,  it  shall 
be  between  us  and  them  a  war  of  extermination,  for  we 
will  follow  them  till  the  last  drop  of  blood  is  spilled,  or 
else  they  will  have  to  exterminate  us  ;  for  we  will  carry 
the  seat  of  war  to  their  own  houses  and  their  own 
families,  and  one  part  or  the  other  shall  be  utterly 
destroyed.     Remember  it  then,  all  men!" 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  43 

The  Mormon  "  Danite  Band,"  whose  cruelties,  private 
assassinations,  and  massacres  have  written  the  blackest 
pages  in  the  dark  history  of  the  Mormons,  originated  at 
this  time. 

Elder  John  Hyde  gives  the  origin  of  the  name  as 
follows  :  — 

"  A  '  death  society'  was  organized  in  1838,  under  the 
direction  of  Sidney  Rigdon,  and  with  the  sanction  of 
Smith.  Its  object  was  the  punishment  of  the  obnoxious. 
They  desired  a  name  that  should  seem  to  combine  spir- 
itual authority  with  a  suitable  sound.  Micah  4:13  fur- 
nished a  name,  and  they  called  themselves  the  '  Daughters 
of  Zion.'  Some  ridicule  was  made  at  these  bearded  and 
bloody  '  Daughters.'  'Destroying  Angels'  came  next; 
the  '  Big  fan  of  the  thresher  that  should  thoroughly  purge 
the  floor 'was  tried  and  dropped.  Genesis  49:  17  fur- 
nished the  name  that  they  finally  assumed.  The  verse  is 
quite  significant :  '  Dan  shall  be  a  serpent  by  the  way, 
an  adder  in  the  path,  that  biteth  the  horse  heels,  so  that 
his  rider  shall  fall  backward.'  The  'Sons  of  Dan'  was 
the  style  they  adopted,  and  many  have  been  the  times 
that  they  have  been  adders  in  the  path,  and  many  a  man 
has  fallen  backward,  and  has  been  seen  no  more."  l 

An  officer  in  the  Mormon  Church,  Dr.  Avard,  ad- 
dressed this  Danite  Band  during  the  exciting  times 
which  enveloped  them  in  Missouri,   and  said  :  — 

"  Know  ye  not,  brethren,  that  it  will  soon  be  your 
privilege  to  take  your  respective  companies  and  go  out 
on  a  scout  on  the  borders  of  the  settlements  and  take  to 
yourselves  spoils  of  the  ungodly  Gentiles?  For  it  is 
written :  '  The  riches  of  the  Gentiles  shall  be  conse- 
crated   to  my  people,   the    house   of    Israel 

1  Mormonisua,  p.  105. 


44  TJie  Mormon  Delusion. 

waste  away  the  Gentiles  by  robbing  and  plundering  them 
of  their  property ;  and  in  this  way  we  will  build  up  the 
kingdom  of  God,  and  roll  forth  the  little  stone  that  Daniel 
saw  cut  out  of  the  mountain  without  hands  until  it  shall 
fill  the  whole  earth.  For  this  is  the  very  way  that 
God  destines  to  build  up  his  kingdom  in  the  last  days. 
.  .  .  And  if  any  of  us  transgress  we  will  deal  with  him 
amongst  ourselves.  And  if  any  of  this  Danite  Society 
reveals  any  of  these  things,  I  will  put  him  where  the 
dogs  can  not  bite  him."  l 

The  Mormon  bishop,  John  D.  Lee,  in  his  Confessions, 
says  :  — 

' '  The  members  of  this  order  were  placed  under  the 
most  sacred  obligations  that  language  could  invent. 
They  were  sworn  to  stand  by  and  sustain  each  other ; 
sustain,  protect,  defend,  and  obey  the  leaders  of  the 
church  under  any  and  all  circumstances  unto  death;  and 
to  disobey  the  orders  of  the  leaders  of  the  church,  or 
divulge  the  name  of  a  Danite  to  an  outsider,  or  to  make 
public  any  of  the  secrets  of  the  order  of  Danites,  was  to 
be  punished  with  death.  And  I  can  say  of  a  truth,  many 
have  paid  the  penalty  for  failing  to  keep  their  covenants." 

General  Clark's  report  to  the  governor  at  this  time 
(November  10,  1838)  says  :  — 

"  There  is  no  crime,  from  treason  down  to  petit  lar- 
ceny, but  these  people,  or  a  majority  of  them,  have  been 
guilty  of  —  all,  too,  under  the  counsel  of  Joseph  Smith, 
Junior,  the  prophet.  They  have  committed  treason, 
murder,  arson,  burglary,  robbery,  larceny,  and  perjury. 
They  have  societies  formed  under  the  most  binding  cove- 
nants in  form  and  the  most  horrid  oaths  to  circumvent 
the  laws,  and  put  them  at  defiance  ;  and  to  plunder  and 

Rocky  Mountain  Saints,  p.  92. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  45 

burn  and  murder,  and  divide  the  spoils  for  the  use  of  the 
church." 

The  result  was  that  the  Mormons  were  disarmed,  their 
leaders,  including  Smith,  imprisoned,  and  an  agreement 
made  that  they  should  all  leave  the  state  in  the  following 
spring.  Many  deserted  the  Mormon  Church,  but  most 
remained  true  to  their  delusion,  cheerfully  met  their 
multiplied  hardships  as  religious  persecution  for  Christ's 
sake,  and  appeared  as  if  they  were  ready  to  suffer  even 
death  itself. 

Brigham  Young,  who  was  then  the  president  of  the 
so-called  "Twelve  Apostles,"  now  began  to  come  to  the 
front  and  to  develop  that  executive  ability  which  carried 
him  successfully  through  his  long  career.  He  had  previ- 
ously fled  from  Missouri  and  joined  the  many  Mormon 
refugees  who  had  already  found  an  asylum  at  Quincy, 
Illinois.  Here  the  scattered  bands  began  to  re-assemble 
in  the  spring  of  1839,  and  here  the  Prophet  Joseph  and 
his  jail  companions  appeared  after  their  rapid  flight  from 
the  officers  of  the  law  in  Missouri. 

When  these  stripped  and  defeated  refugees  found  that 
their  prophet  was  again  among  them  with  his  deceptive 
"  revelations,"  and  when  they  felt  the  energetic  hand  of 
Brigham  Young  guiding  their  interests,  they  again  took 
courage.  Smith  soon  selected  for  their  future  location  a 
charming  site  on  the  Illinois  bank  of  the  Mississippi 
river,  sixty  miles  above  Quincy  and  twenty  miles  below 
Burlington.  He  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  there, 
and  laid  out  a  city  four  miles  wide  and  three  miles  long, 
which  he  called  Nauvoo,  "  The  Beautiful." 

The  Mormons  who  were  gathering  at  Quincy  were  in  a 
pitiable  condition.  They  were  all  refugees  who  had  fled 
from  their  enemies  in  Missouri.     Most  of  their  personal 


46  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

property  had  been  destroyed  or  taken  from  them ;  many 
of  their  former  homes  were  in  ashes  ;  the  improvements 
made  on  their  new  farms  in  Missouri  were  sacrificed,  as 
they  had  to  sell  out  at  prices  set  by  their  enemies.  Most 
of  them  were  now  glad  to  do  any  work  which  would  feed 
and  clothe  their  families.  The  citizens  of  Quincy  and 
vicinity  received  them  kindly  and  helped  their  necessities. 

At  Nauvoo  the  homeless  Mormons  began  anew  to 
rebuild  their  lost  fortunes.  Within  one  year  their  village 
contained  two  hundred  and  forty  houses,  and  new 
structures  were  starting  up  almost  daily.  Within  a  few 
months  more  they  had  saw-mills,  a  flouring-mill,  a 
foundry,  and  factories  for  making  chinaware  and  tools  ; 
and  a  steamboat  for  traffic  on  the  Mississippi.  They  had 
many  missionaries  scattered  abroad  preaching  their  so- 
called  gospel.  Their  sufferings  at  the  hands  of  the  mobs 
in  Missouri  having  been  widely  published  awakened 
much  sympathy  for  them.  This  fact  was  skillfully  used 
by  their  traveling  emissaries  and  it  gave  them  a  much 
wider  hearing  and  many  new  converts. 

Nauvoo  grew  as  if  by  magic,  as  the  new  devotees  came 
in  large  numbers  and  placed  themselves  and  their  all 
under  the  control  of  the  church.  Many  of  the  fresh  arri- 
vals were  persons  of  some  means,  and  the  wily  prophet 
knew  how  to  persuade  them  "  by  revelation  "  to  deposit 
their  cash  with  him. 

"  By  revelation"  Joseph  Smith  again  provided  a  home 
and  board  for  his  family  in  these  terms  :  ' '  And  now  I 
say  unto  you,  as  pertaining  to  my  boarding-house  which 
I  have  commanded  you  to  build  for  the  boarding  of 
strangers,  let  it  be  built  unto  my  name,  and  let  my 
name  be  named  upon  it,  and  let  my  servant  Joseph  and 
his  house  have  place  therein  from  generation  to 
generation." 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  47 

Then  followed  another  revelation  commanding  the 
building  of  a  temple  of  magnificent  proportions.  Into 
the  building  of  this  temple  the  Mormons,  with  a  devotion 
worthy  a  better  cause,  poured  their  money  and  their 
labor  with  such  liberality  that  it  was  so  nearly  com- 
pleted by  May,  1846,  as  to  be  dedicated,  and  it  is  said 
by  themselves  to  have  cost  six  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  presidential  campaign  of  1840  was  the  means  of 
giving  to  the  Mormons  undue  political  importance.  The 
judicial  district  in  which  Nauvoo  was  situated  and, 
indeed,  the  whole  state  of  Illinois  were  so  closely 
balanced  between  the  Whig  and  Democratic  parties 
that  it  was  thought  the  Mormons  from  their  custom  of 
voting  "solid,"  as  directed  by  their  prophet,  had  the 
balance  of  power.  The  leaders  on  both  sides  waited 
on  Smith,  and  the  result  was  that  he  had  a  "  revelation" 
that  the  Mormon  votes  should  be  cast  for  the  Whig 
ticket,  and  it  was  elected.  In  return  the  Whigs  were 
to  give  a  charter  to  the  city  of  Nauvoo  which  should 
suit  the  Mormons.  When  the  bill  came  before  the 
legislature  granting  unheard-of  powers  to  the  Mormon 
city,  both  political  parties  supported  it  —  the  Whigs  in 
return  for  past  votes,  and  the  Democrats  in  hope  of 
favors  to  come.  This  short-sighted  pandering  to  the 
Mormon  vote  bore  early  and  most  bitter  fruits.  The 
Mormons  were  emboldened  to  make  the  most  extraor- 
dinary demands  of  the  state,  and  even  of  the  nation. 
Ignoring  the  county  in  which  Nauvoo  was  situated,  they 
provided  in  Nauvoo  an  office  for  the  recording  of  deeds 
and  issuing  of  marriage  licenses  ;  and  for  the  right  of 
the  municipal  court  to  take  any  Nauvoo  citizen  under 
arrest  by  state  officers  out  of  their  hands  and  set  him 
at    liberty.     They    also    asked    Congress    to    pay   them 


48  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

$1,333,000  for  property  lost  in  their  Missouri  troubles, 
and  that  the  mayor  of  Nauvoo  might  call  out  the  United 
States  troops  when  he  should  need  their  assistance.  A 
local  military  force  called  the  ' '  Nauvoo  Legion  "  was  also 
organized.  "Thus  it  was  proposed  to  reestablish  for 
the  Mormons  a  government  within  a  government ;  a 
legislature  with  power  to  pass  ordinances  at  war  with 
the  laws  of  the  state  ;  courts  to  execute  them,  with  but 
little  dependence  upon  the  constitutional  judiciary  ;  and 
a  military  force  at  their  own  command,  to  be  governed 
by  its  own  laws  and  ordinances,  and  subject  to  no  state 
authority  but  that  of  the  governor."  l 

One  of  the  results  was  that  the  governor  of  Illinois 
afterwards  experienced  the  humiliation  of  having  his 
own  order  for  the  arrest  of  Joseph  Smith  set  aside  by 
Smith  himself  as  mayor  of  Nauvoo  ! 

Nauvoo  and  the  Mormons,  once  more  freed  from 
enemies  within  and  without,  grew  rapidly  in  numbers 
and  in  power.  Brigham  Young  went  "  on  a  mission" 
to  England,  and  as  early  as  the  summer  of  1840  the  first 
company  of  English  converts,  to  the  number  of  forty, 
set  out  from  Liverpool  to  "  gather  to  Zion,"  and  were 
followed  in  September  by  two  hundred  more.  All 
reached  Nauvoo  in  safety,  and  also  in  joy,  as  they 
said,  that  they  had  successfully  escaped  the  destruction 
that  was  so  soon  to  overwhelm  the  Gentile  world.  The 
numbers  of  these  foreign  and  obedient  new  converts 
which  came  to  the  young  Mormon  city  before  the 
prophet's  death  were  as  follows:  —  in  1840,  240;  in 
1841,   1,135;  in  1842,   1,614;   in   1843,   769. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  Mormon  Temple  in  Nauvoo 
was  laid  on  the  sixth  of  April,  1841  — the  eleventh  anni- 

1  Governor  Ford's  History  of  Illinois,  p.  265. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  49 

versary  of  the  organization  of  the  church.  The  cere- 
monies of  the  occasion  were  most  elaborate  and  imposing, 
and  great  crowds  of  people  from  the  surrounding  coun- 
try attended,  while  the  Mormons  were  present  in  a 
body. 

Fourteen  companies  of  the  Mormon  militia,  the  Nauvoo 
Legion,  were  on  parade,  armed  and  uniformed,  while 
their  commander,  the  prophet,  with  his  numerous  staff, 
in  shining  military  regalia,  reviewed  them  in  ostentatious 
style.  Then  came  the  Mormon  ladies,  in  carriages,  and 
presented  a  silk  flag  to  the  legion,  through  the  prophet, 
with  speeches  and  responses.  Then  there  was  a  grand 
parade  to  the  site  of  the  temple,  in  which  several  thou- 
sands joined,  and  the  corner-stone  was  laid  to  a  temple 
which  they  said  was  to  cost  one  million  dollars. 

Little  did  the  Mormons  dream  that  all  this  pomp  and 
vanity  would  within  fifteen  short  months  end  in  blood 
and  the  ashes  of  deep  humiliation. 

In  May,  1842,  Dr.  John  C.  Bennett,  who  had  been 
mayor  of  Nauvoo  and  held  most  confidential  relations 
with  Joseph  Smith,  and  was  utterly  unscrupulous,  turned 
against  the  Mormons,  attacked  them  most  vigorously 
and  with  decided  ability,  by  public  addresses,  by  exten- 
sive newspaper  correspondence,  and  by  a  book  of  expos- 
ures. In  all  these  strokes,  other  seceding  Mormons 
joined  him  with  damaging  effect.  He  got  the  ear  of  the 
public,  and  the  beginnings  of  the  overthrow  of  Mormon- 
ism  at  Nauvoo  date  from  his  merciless  attacks. 

Public  sentiment  in  Illinois  was  rapidly  gathering  force 
against  the  Mormons,  and  Smith  seemed  to  have  gone 
mad  with  senseless  folly.  He  was  announced  by  his 
newspaper  organ  as  a  candidate  for  President  of  the 
United  States  in  the  spring  of  1844,  with  the  most  ful- 


50  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

some  praise.  He  then  sent  missionaries  throughout  the 
country  to  advocate  his  cause,  and  issued  over  his  own 
signature  an  address  to  the  people  of  the  United  States 
which  left  it  in  doubt  whether  he  was  greatest  as  a  fool, 
demagogue,  or  lunatic.  He  also  wrote  a  most  insulting 
letter  to  Henry  Clay. 

Apparently  unconscious  of  the  storm  of  public  indig- 
nation that  was  collecting  and  was  so  soon  to  burst  upon 
him,  Smith's  effrontery  led  him  next  to  petition  Congress 
for  authority  to  raise  one  hundred  thousand  volunteer 
soldiers  for  the  pretended  purpose  of  protecting  Ameri- 
can citizens  en  route  to  the  west ;  and  also  asked  that  the 
rank  of  general  in  the  United  States  army  be  conferred 
upon  himself.  This  move  angered  almost  to  desperation 
the  already  alarmed  citizens  of  Illinois.  It  was 
followed  by  a  public  declaration  of  the  prophet  at  a 
Mormon  church  conference,  as  follows  :  — 

•'The  Great  Jehovah  has  always  been  with  me,  and 
the  wisdom  of  God  will  guide  me  at  the  eleventh  hour. 
I  feel  that  I  am  in  more  immediate  communion  with  God, 
and  on  a  better  footing  with  him  than  I  have  ever  been 
in  my  life,  and  I  am  happy  to  appear  among  you  under 
these  circumstances." 

Meantime  many  accounts  came  to  the  public  of  Smith's 
shocking  immoralities,  and  of  the  secret  practice  of 
polygamy  by  himself  and  many  of  his  boon  compan- 
ions. These  things  became  notorious.  His  pretended 
revelation,  by  which  polygamy  was  made  a  doctrine  of 
the  church  and  its  practice  obligatory,  was  written  in 
1843,  although  not  published  to  the  world  until  nine 
years  later.  Leading  men  began  to  apostatize  from  the 
Mormon  Church  and  to  openly  denounce  the  deep  wicked- 
ness  of    the    prophet.      Some    of    these    men    started    a 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  51 

newspaper,  called  The  Nauvoo  Expositor,  to  expose  the 
prophet,  which  Smith  suppressed  and  had  the  printing- 
office  destroyed  as  soon  as  the  first  issue  appeared. 

The  destruction  of  the  printing-office  Iry  command  of 
Smith's  city  council  awakened  much  excitement ;  and 
when  those  who  had  been  arrested  for  it  were  taken  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  officers  and  set  at  liberty  by  the 
Nauvoo  municipal  court  the  suppressed  excitement 
became  an  irresistible  storm  of  public  fury.  Meetings 
were  held  in  many  places,  and  the  Mormons  were 
denounced.  The  pulse  of  public  sentiment  can  be  seen 
from  the  following  resolutions  which  were  adopted  at  a 
great  mass  meeting  at  Warsaw,  and  endorsed  by  other 
gatherings  :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  time,  in  our  opinion,  has  arrived  when  the 
adherents  of  Smith  as  a  body  should  be  driven  from  the  sur- 
rounding settlements  into  Nauvoo.  That  the  Prophet  and  his 
miscreant  adherents  should  then  be  demanded  at  their  hands, 
and  if  not  surrendered  a  war  of  extermination  should  be  waged 
to  their  entire  destruction,  if  necessary,  for  our  protection. 

Resolved,  That  every  citizen  arm  himself,  to  be  prepared  to 
sustain  the  resolutions  herein  contained. 

In  many  places  in  Hancock  County,  in  which  Nauvoo 
was  situated,  and  beyond,  armed  bands  of  citizens  began 
to  form,  and  Nauvoo  was  soon  to  be  attacked.  Smith 
rallied  his  legion,  informed  them  of  the  danger,  and 
made  preparations  for  resistance.  Governor  Ford  hur- 
ried from  the  capital  to  the  scene  of  trouble  that  he 
might  prevent  an  outbreak  and  the  shedding  of  blood. 
His  efforts  were  partly  successful.  The  Nauvoo  Legion 
were  persuaded  to  give  up  their  arms,  which  belonged  to 
the  state.  It  was  afterwards  learned  that  every  house  in 
Nauvoo  was  amply  supplied  with  private  arms,  and  thus 


oZ  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

their  seeming  readiness  to  give  up  the  rifles  which 
belonged  to  the  state  was  not  so  surprising. 

About  eighteen  hundred  militia  were  under  arms  in 
Carthage  (the  county  seat),  Warsaw,  and  vicinity, 
besides  the  great  numbers  of  unorganized  citizens  who 
flocked  together  from  all  directions. 

Joseph  Smith  and  several  of  the  leading  Mormons 
were  persuaded  to  go  to  Carthage  and  give  themselves 
up  to  the  authorities.  They  did  so,  and  were  released  on 
bail.  They  were,  however,  immediately  re-arrested  on  a 
charge  of  treason  and  lodged  in  jail.  The  governor 
went  to  Nauvoo,  eighteen  miles  distant,  and  addressed 
a  great  gathering  of  the  Mormons,  urging  them  to  peace- 
able measures,  and  especially  that  they  should  submit  to 
the  laws  of  the  state,  whatever  to  the  contrary  might  be 
taught  or  commanded  them  by  their  prophet  and  leaders. 
Taking  advantage  of  the  absence  of  the  governor  from 
Carthage,  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  June,  1844,  over  one 
hundred  men,  armed  with  rifles  and  disguised  by  black- 
ened faces  and  in  other  ways,  suddenly  appeared  at  the 
Carthage  jail,  overpowered  the  guards,  and  attacked  the 
door  of  the  room  in  which  Joseph  Smith  and  his  brother 
Hyrurn,  John  Taylor,  and  another  Mormon  were  confined. 
Hyrum  was  soon  killed,  while  the  prophet  defended  him- 
self with  a  revolver  until  wounded,  and  then  leaped  from 
the  second-story  window  of  the  jail.  The  mob  below 
received  him  with  a  volley  from  their  guns,  and  the 
career  of  the  false  prophet  was  at  an  end. 

The  Nauvoo  Mormons  were  stunned  with  sorrow  and 
fear,  and  quietly  buried  their  dead  prophet  with  weeping 
and  mourning  which  indicated  a  sincere  belief,  on  the 
part  of  many  at  least,  in  the  divine  mission  of  their 
departed  leader. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.   '  53 

The  Mormon  hymn-book  gives  many  illustrations  of 
the  esteem  in  which  the  Mormons  held,  or  pretended  to 
hold,  their  dead  prophet.  Among  these  we  find  the 
following  :  — 

O,  give  me  back  my  Prophet  dear, 

And  patriarch,  O  give  them  back. 

The  Seer,  the  Seer,  Joseph  the  Seer ! 

I  '11  sing  of  the  Prophet  ever  dear. 

With  Gods  he  soared  in  the  realms  of  day, 

And  men  he  taught  the  heavenly  way. 

His  home  's  in  the  sky,  he  dwells  with  the  Gods, 

Far  from  the  furious  rage  of  mobs. 


Hail  to  the  Prophet,  ascended  to  heaven, 
Traitors  and  tyrants  now  fight  him  in  vain ; 

Mingling  with  Gods,  he  can  plan  for  his  brethren, 
Death  cannot  conquer  the  hero  again. 

Praise  to  his  memory,  he  died  as  a  martyr, 
Honored  and  blest  be  his  ever  great  name ; 

Long  shall  his  blood,  which  was  shed  by  assassins, 
Stain  Illinois,  while  the  earth  lauds  his  fame. 


The  immorality  that  prevailed  at  Nauvoo  was  shock- 
ing. The  worst  feature  of  it  was  that  the  example  was 
set  by  Joseph  Smith  himself,  and  by  those  who  stood 
nearest  to  him.  Although  their  religions  doctrines  were 
heathenish  and  their  relations  to  the  state  subversive  and 
disloyal ;  although  they  were  vulgar,  profane,  over- 
reaching among  each  other,  and  some  were  thieves  and 
counterfeiters,  yet  their  distinguishing  wickedness  was 
their  licentiousness.  People  who  are  caught  with  such 
crazy  doctrines  as  are  put  forth  by  Mormon  ism  have 
such  mental  weakness  and  such  lack  of  moral   stamina 


54  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

that  many  of  them  are  easily  led  into  any  excesses, 
even  into  shocking  immoralities,  from  which  the}7  would 
at  the  beginning  have  shrunk  back  in  horror.  Of  such 
material  were  most  of  the  Mormons  made  who  were 
gathering  by  thousands  at  Nauvoo.  The  designing  and 
vile  so-called  prophet  had  a  plastic  people  in  his  hands. 
He  knew  his  dupes  well,  and  gave  unbridled  license  to 
his  passions.  This  chapter  of  his  wickedness  is  too 
vile  to  put  into  print.  Only  a  surface  summary  of  lead- 
ing facts  can  be  given,  and  from  this  the  reader  must 
draw  his  own  conclusions.  Let  no  denial  from  Mormon 
sources  or  from  Mormon  apologists  shake  the  reader's 
confidence  in  the  following  statements,  for  they  rest 
upon  evidence  convincing  to  any  fair-minded  person. 

Joseph  Smith  did  not  begin  his  vices  after  settling  at 
Nauvoo.  He  had  never  been  above  licentious  immoral- 
ity, and  at  Kirtland  his  character  in  this  respect  became 
well  known  to  all  but  the  wholly  blinded.  At  Nauvoo 
he  sought  the  ruin  of  the  wives  and  daughters  of  his 
flock,  and  in  order  to  prevent  a  storm  of  indignation 
which  would  otherwise  have  overwhelmed  him,  he  encour- 
aged his  leading  men  to  follow  in  his  footsteps.  True 
to  his  never-failing  instincts  he  blasphemed  all  holy 
things  by  pretending  that  he  had  permission  for  his 
teaching  and  practices  by  "  a  revelation  from  the  Lord"  ! 
Sometimes  he  hinted  to  his  female  paramours  that 
another  "revelation"  permitting  plural  husbands  might 
soon  appear. 

Then  began  that  "  confusion  of  tongues"  as  to  many 
of  the  most  sacred  words  in  our  language  which  has  for- 
half  a  century  on  Mormon  lips  dragged  them  in  mire  and 
filth.  Women  were  married  for  "  time  only"  to  one  hus- 
band,   but   "sealed"   "for   eternity"   to  another;  some 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  55 

were  married  "in  the  flesh"  to  one  man,  but  "spirit- 
ually" "sealed"  to  another.  At  that  time  began  to 
spring  up  that  whole  brood  of  false  words  by  which 
Mormon  libertines  have  sought  to  throw  a  thin  veil  of 
sanctity  over  their  practices. 

Joseph  Smith  began  also  to  instruct  his  most  trusted 
men  in  what  he  called  the  "  mysteries  of  the  kingdom," 
"  celestial  marriage,"  and  "  spiritual  sealing."  They  were 
generally  willing  pupils,  although  some  men  and  some 
women  maintained  their  honor,  and  scrambled  out  of  the 
slimy  pit.  Smith  would  assure  them  that  "  they  could 
have  all  the  wives  they  wanted."  Erastus  Snow,  although 
up  to  that  time  a  bachelor,  took  several  wives  within  as 
many  months.  John  D.  Lee,  although  already  married, 
took  eight  more  wives  within  twelve  months  after  learning 
from  the  prophet  of  his  extensive  privileges.  Exchang- 
ing husbands  and  wives  was  not  very  uncommon.  In  one 
well-known  case  two  men  and  their  wives  lived  in  differ- 
ent ends  of  the  same  house,  and,  after  bargaining  all 
around,  the  husbands  exchanged  wives,  and  after  a  few 
weeks  exchanged  back  again. 

A  trusting  and  innocent  girl,  a  new  convert,  named 
Martha  Brotherton,  who  had  recently  arrived  from  Eng- 
land with  her  parents,  was  invited  by  Joseph  Smith  and 
Brigham  Young  into  an  upper  room  and  the  door  locked 
after  them.  Brigham  then  asked  her  to  marry  him,  and 
Smith  urged  her  acceptance,  saying  that  he  knew  "  from 
the  Lord  "  that  it  was  right.  She  begged  that  she  might 
have  time  to  consider  and  to  consult  with  her  parents. 
They  did  not  wish  her  parents  to  know  anything  about  it, 
but  she  insisted.  When  she  got  away  from  them  she 
went  before  a  justice  and  exposed  them  under  sworn 
testimony. 


56  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

The  suppressed  newspaper,  The  Nauvoo  Expositor, 
contained  in  that  single  issue  which  its  short  life  sent 
forth  the  following  :  — 

"  It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  many  females  in  foreign 
climes  have  been  induced  by  the  sound  of  the  gospel  to 
forsake  friends  and  come  over  the  water,  as  they  sup- 
posed, to  glorify  God.  .  .  .  But  what  is  taught  them  on 
their  arrival  at  this  place?  They  are  notified  that 
Brother  Joseph  will  see  them  soon  and  reveal  the 
mysteries  of  heaven  to  their  full  understanding,  which 
seldom  fails  to  inspire  them  with  new  confidence  in  the 
prophet,  as  well  as  a  great  anxiety  to  know  what  God 
has  laid  up  in  store  for  them  in  return  for  the  great  sac- 
rifice of  father  and  mother,  gold  and  silver.  .  .  .  They 
are  visited  again.  They  are  requested  to  meet  Brother 
Joseph,  or  some  of  the  Twelve,  at  some  isolated  point, 
or  at  some  particularly  described  place  on  the  bank  of 
the  Mississippi,  or  at  some  room  which  bears  upon  its 
front:  'Positively  no  admittance.'  The  unsuspecting 
creatures  are  so  devoted  to  the  prophet  and  the  cause 
of  Jesus  Christ  that  they  do  not  dream  of  the  deep-laid 
scheme.  They  meet  him  expecting  a  blessing  and  to 
learn  the  will  of  the  Lord  concerning  them,  when  instead 
they  are  told,  after  having  been  sworn  to  secrecy  in  the 
most  solemn  manner,  with  a  penalty  of  death  attached, 
that  God  Almighty  has  revealed  it  to  him  that  she  should 
be  his  (Joseph's)  '  spiritual  wife.'  She  is  thunderstruck, 
and  refuses.  The  prophet  condemns  her  if  she  rejects. 
She  thinks  of  the  great  sacrifice,  and  of  the  many  thou- 
sand miles  she  has  traveled  over  sea  and  land  that  she 
might  save  her  soul  from  ruin,  and  replies :  '  God's  will 
be  done,  and  not  mine.'  " 

It   should  be    remembered    that   a   large    part   of  this 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  57 

development  in  wickedness  at  Nauvoo  took  place  before 
this  so-called  "revelation"  of  Smith's  permitting  and 
commanding  polygamy.  There  is  no  doubt  that  this 
pretended  revelation  was  devised  and  written  at  that 
time  (dated  July  12,  1843)  merely  for  the  purpose  of 
bracing  up  the  current  practices  with  a  so-called  "  thus 
saith  the  Lord."  The  consciences  of  some  could  not 
otherwise  be  debauched.  The  "revelation"  was  also 
intended  to  hush  the  too  public  murmurings  of  Emma 
Smith,  the  prophet's  wife,  for  she  is  personally  named 
in  the  "revelation"  and  commanded  to  abide  its  teach- 
ings, "  for  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God  and  I  will  destroy  her 
if  she  abide  not  in  my  law." 

This  revelation  was  shown  by  Joseph  and  his  brother 
Hyrum  to  such  of  the  initiated  as  they  supposed  they 
could  trust,  and  it  was  sometimes  loaned  to  the  brethren 
to  read  to  their  wives.  Several  persons  who  saw  it  or 
heard  it  read  in  this  manner  left  the  Mormons  in 
consequence. 

The  double-dealing  and  the  utter  disregard  for  truth 
shown  by  the  prophet  and  his  officers  about  the  teaching 
and  practice  of  polygamy  at  this  time  (1844) — the 
determination  to  practice  polygamy  themselves  and  at 
the  same  time  deny  it  before  "  the  world,"  and  also 
before  many  of  "the  weak"  among  their  own  people 
—  are  clearly  shown  by  the  following  public  notice  about 
an  indiscreet  elder  in  Michigan  who  had  been  giving  to 
the  Saints  there  the  secret  revelation  which  was 
intended  to  be  kept  as  yet  only  for  the  inner  circles 
at  Nauvoo.  This  notice  appeared  in  the  Mormon  organ, 
Times  and  Seasons,  in  February,  1844,  seven  months 
after  Smith's  revelation  on  polygamy  had  been  written 
and  circulated  in  Nauvoo,  and  several  years  after  he 
himself  had  been  in  the  practice  of  polygamy  :  — 


58  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Notice.  —  As  we  have  been  credibly  informed  that  an 
elder  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints, 
by  the  name  of  Hyrum  Brown,  has  been  preaching  polyganry 
and  other  false  and  corrupt  doctrines  in  the  County  of  Lapeer 
and  State  of  Michigan,  this  is  to  notify  him  and  the  church  in 
general  that  he  has  been  cut  off  from  the  church  for  his 
iniquity,  and  he  is  further  notified  to  appear  at  the  special 
conference,  on  the  sixth  of  April  next,  to  make  answer  to 
those  charges. 

Joseph  Smith, 
Hyrum  Smith, 

Presidents  of  the  Church. 

Joseph  Smith  and  his  chief  officers  well  knew  that  if 
that  "revelation"  should  become  public,  and  it  should 
be  known  in  Illinois  that  polygamy  was  a  doctrine  and 
practice  of  the  Saints,  their  whole  city  would  have 
been  annihilated  by  the  storm  of  public  disgust  and 
anger  which  would  have  burst  upon  them.  Hence  the 
anxiety  that  this  secret  should  be  "kept  from  the 
Gentiles "  until  the  Mormons  should  be  safely  isolated 
from  Christian  civilization  within  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
In  1852,  five  years  after  their  arrival  in  the  Salt  Lake 
Valley,  and  after  its  existence  had  been  ten  thousand 
times  denied  by  Mormon  lips  in  this  and  in  other 
lands,  the  revelation  was  published. 

A  fair  specimen  of  the  double-tongues  about  this 
matter  appears  in  the  following  letter  from  the  prophet's 
brother  :  — 

Whereas  some  of  your  elders  say  that  a  man  having  a 
certain  priesthood  may  have  as  many  wives  as  he  pleases,  and 
that  doctrine  is  taught  here :  I  say  unto  you  that  that  man 
teaches  false  doctrine,  for  there  is  no  such  doctrine  taught  here; 
neither  is  there  any  such  thing  practiced  here.  .  .  .  Beware  what 
you  teach ;  for  mysteries  of  God  are  not  given  to  all  men ;  and 
unto  those  to  whom  they  are  given  they  are  placed  under 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  59 

restrictions  to  impart  only  such  as  God  will  command  them; 
and  the  residue  is  to  be  kept  in  a  faithful  breast,  otherwise  he 
shall  be  brought  under  condemnation.  .  .  .  Now,  therefore, 
I  say  unto  you,  you  must  cease  preaching  your  miraculous 
things  and  let  the  mysteries  alone  until  by  and  by.  .  .  . 

Your  obedient  servant, 

Hyrum  Smith. 

At  the  date  of  the  above  letter  Hyrum  Smith  had  him- 
self been  a  polygamist  for  nearly  a  year,  having  married 
his  wife's  sister. 

The  general  consent  of  the  Mormons  to  this  falsehood 
about  polygamy  is  also  further  shown  in  the  fact  that  on 
October  1,  1844,  there  appeared  in  Times  and  Seasons 
two  cards,  each  declaring  that  the  subscribers  knew  of 
no  other  rule  or  system  of  marriage  being  practiced 
in  their  church  than  the  one  wife  system  given  in  their 
book  of  "  Doctrines  and  Covenants."  One  card  was 
signed  by  eleven  men.  nearly  all  polygamists,  and  the 
other  by  nineteen  women  at  Nauvoo,  most  of  whom 
were  already  polluted  with  this  practice. 

The  Mormon  Salt  Lake  paper,  The  Deseret  Daily 
News,  of  May  20,  1886,  confesses  the  whole  matter  by 
saying,  — 

"The  revelation  on  celestial  marriage  was  revealed  to 
the  prophet  many  years  before,  but  not  formulated  in 
writing  for  the  church.  Acting  under  instructions  from 
the  Lord,  the  prophet  had  several  wives  sealed  to  him 
before  the  date  of  that  revelation.  .  .  .  The  revelation 
was  given  on  that  date,  although  the  doctrines  it  con- 
tains were  known  and  had  been  acted  upon  under  special 
instructions  previous  to  that  date." 

And  now  (May  20,  1886)  comes  The  Deseret  Daily 
News,  again,  with  the  following  apology  for  the  Mormon 
falsehoods  :  — 


60  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

"  Polygamy,  in  the  ordinary  and  Asiatic  sense  of  the 
term,  never  was  and  is  not  now  a  tenet  of  the  Latter  Day 
Saints.  That  which  Joseph  and  Hyrum  denounced,  and 
for  preaching  which  without  authority  an  elder  was  cut 
off  the  church  in  Nauvoo,  was  altogether  different  from 
the  order  of  celestial  marriage,  including  a  plurality  of 
wives,  which  forms  the  subject  of  the  revelation." 

There  appears  the  Mormon  double-tongue  with  its 
falsehood  upon  the  point  of  each.  Polygamy  as  "  the 
world,"  as  "  the  Asiatics,"  understand  it  is  indeed  a 
vile  practice  ;  but  when  Mormon  falseness  spreads  over 
it  the  thin  glamour  of  good  words  —  "celestial  mar- 
riage "  —  it  suddenly  becomes   a  holy  thing  ! 

But  The  Deseret  News  goes  on  down  into  still  lower 
depths,   thus  :  — 

"  Until  the  open  enunciation  of  the  doctrine  of  celes- 
tial marriage  by  the  publication  of  the  revelation  on  the 
subject  in  1852,  no  elder  was  authorized  to  announce  it 
to  the  world.  The  Almighty  has  revealed  things  on 
many  occasions  which  were  for  his  servants  and  not  for 
the  world  : 

"  '  And  now  I  say  unto  you,  Keep  these  things  from 
going  abroad  into  the  world  until  it  is  expedient  in  me.' 

"  '  But  a  commandment  I  give  unto  them  that  they 
shall  not  boast  themselves  of  these  things,  neither 
speak  of  them  before  the  world,' l  etc. 

"  Under  these  instructions,  elders  had  no  right  to 
promulgate  anything  but  that  which  they  were  authorized 
to  teach.  And  when  assailed  by  enemies,  and  accused 
of  practicing  things  which  were  really  not  countenanced 
in  the  church,  they  were  justified  in  denying  those  im- 
putations, and  at  the  same  time  avoiding  the  avowal  of 

1  Doctrines  and  Covenants. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  6 1 

such  doctrines  as  were  not  yet  intended  for  the  world. 
This  course  which  they  have  taken  when  necessary,  by 
commandment,  is  all  the  ground  their  accusers  have  for 
charging  them  with  falsehood." 

All  this  is  utterly  bad.  The  Mormon  falsehoods  and 
baseness  of  1844  are  thus  openly  defended  and  reit- 
erated in  1886.  The  leopard  can  not  change  his  spots. 
The  undeniable  facts  of  the  history  reveal  in  the 
strongest  light  that  the  operating  principle  of  Mor- 
monism,  through  all  its  dark-stained  years,  is  deception. 

Some  glimpses  of  other  dark  deeds  at  Nauvoo  may  be 
gained  from  the  following,  which  is  vouched  for  by 
Mrs.  A.  G.  Paddock,  of  Salt  Lake  City:  — 

"A  friend  of  the  writer,  belonging  to  a  respectable 
and  wealthy  family  in  an  eastern  state,  relates  the  fol- 
lowing :  — 

"  '  My  father  was  induced  by  a  Mormon  missionary  to 
emigrate  to  Nauvoo.  He  went  in  advance  of  the  family, 
taking  a  large  sum  of  money  with  him.  Soon  after  his 
arrival  he  wrote  for  us,  stating  that  he  had  bought  a 
house  and  lot,  and  that  we  would  find  a  good  home 
awaiting  us.  We  started  at  once,  but  when  we  were 
within  a  few  miles  of  Nauvoo  we  were  met  by  the 
missionary  referred  to,  who  told  us  that  father  had 
suddenly  died.  On  reaching  the  city  we  were  unable 
to  learn  anything  of  the  time  or  manner  of  his  death. 
We  never  found  out  where  he  was  buried,  or,  indeed, 
whether  he  was  buried  at  all ;  and  from  that  day  to  this 
we  have  never  been  able  to  get  any  information  about 
the  house  and  lot  that  he  bought,  or  about  any  of  the 
property  that  he  left.'" 

Gladly  do  we  come  to  the  end  of  the  life  of  this  false 
prophet. 


62  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Who  will  not  henceforth  agree  most  fully  with  Dr. 
W.  Wyl  in  the  following  summing  up  of  his  investiga- 
tions into  the  life  of  Joseph  Smith? 

"  I  could  not  find  a  bright  point,  an  extenuating 
circumstance,  in  the  whole  life  of  the  great  impostor. 
It  is  lie  and  crime  all  through.  Just  think  of  the 
multitude  of  excellent  people,  virtuous,  devout  women 
and  good  men  who  have  staked  their  all  in  this  life  upon 
the  prophetship  of  4  Joseph  Smith,  Junior '  !  "  1 


CHAPTER   III. 


FLEEING   TO    THE    MOUNTAINS. 


AFTER  the  death  of  the  prophet  Joseph  Smith, 
Brigham  Young  expelled  the  ambitious  Sidney 
Rigdon  from  the  church,  and  placed  himself  at  the  head 
and  held  the  reins  of  government  over  the  Mormon 
people  for  thirty-three  years,  or  until  his  death. 

The  many  ugly  facts  and  rumors  which  came  to  the 
public  concerning  the  practices  and  ambitions  of  the 
Mormon  leaders  during  the  tragic  days  which  preceded 
and  followed  the  death  of  Joseph  Smith  did  not  tend 
to  dissolve  the  determination  of  the  citizens  around 
Nauvoo  to  drive  out  the  Mormons. 

"The  excitement  in  Hancock  County  was  soon  re- 
newed, and  the  extremists  on  either  side  felt  the  desper- 
ation of  their  situation.     The  one  sought  to  justify  the 

1  Mormon  Portraits,  p.  73. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  63 

assassination  of  the  prophet,  the  other  to  revenge  his 
death.  The  Mormons  hated  the  Gentiles,  and  the  Gen- 
tiles hated  the  Mormons.  This  was  the  only  point  upon 
which  they  were  agreed.  They  were  each  of  them  ready 
to  believe  and  act  upon  the  most  exaggerated  and 
groundless  reports,  and  there  was  nothing  too  bad  for 
either  of  them  to  credit  concerning  the  other."  ] 

Nauvoo  was  now  a  city  of  about  fifteen  thousand 
inhabitants,  and  was  fast  increasing,  as  the  followers 
of  the  prophet  were  pouring  into  it  from  all  parts  of 
the  world ;  and  there  were  several  other  settlements 
and  villages  of  Mormons  in  Hancock  County.  A  mob 
assembled  at  the  Mormon  village  of  Lima  and  burned 
about  one  hundred  and  seventy -five  houses,  and  the 
inhabitants  fled  to  Nauvoo  in  a  wretched  condition. 
Several  thousand  men  were  gathering,  while  the  Mor- 
mons were  organized  for  resistance.  The  governor  of 
the  state  hastened  to  send  a  delegation  of  state  officers 
(among  whom  was  Stephen  A.  Douglas)  to  negotiate 
with  the  Mormons  for  their  departure.  They  finally 
agreed  that  most  of  them  should  leave  the  state  in  the 
spring  of  1846. 

Although  the  Mormons  must  have  been  expecting  that 
they  would  soon  be  driven  from  their  Nauvoo  homes,  yet 
they  went  on  devoting  their  time  and  money  to  the  com- 
pletion of  the  temple.  There  is  an  almost  unexplainable 
mixture  of  superstition,  idolatry,  and  devotion  in  their 
consecration  to  this  work.  Their  temples  are  not  for 
houses  of  worship,  but  for  marriages,  baptisms,  and 
baptisms  for  the  dead,  as  well  as  their  so-called  "  endow- 
ment" ceremonies.  While  finishing  the  temple,  amidst 
their  poverty  in  those  troublous  times,  the  masons  and 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,  p.  213. 


64  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

carpenters  worked  with  their  firearms  lying  within  reach, 
while  pickets  stood  on  guard  to  give  warning  of  the 
approach  of  any  attacking  party  which  they  had  reason 
to  expect  might  come  at  any  moment. 

"  This  fine  building  was  destroyed  on  the  nineteenth  of 
November,  1848,  the  work  of  an  incendiary.  Two  years 
later  the  French  Icarians,  brought  to  Nauvoo  by  Mon- 
sieur Cabet,  the  great  Socialist,  endeavored  to  rebuild 
it  for  their  own  uses,  but  a  dreadful  tornado  in  May, 
1850,  threw  most  of  the  original  building  to  the  ground, 
and  ended  that  project.  The  rock  of  the  temple  subse- 
quently served  as  the  ledges  of  a  quarry  to  supply 
domestic  building  material." 

On  November  1,  1845,  they  sent  forth  an  official  letter 
in  which  they  said  :  — 

"  Continued  abuses,  persecutions,  murders,  and  rob- 
beries, practiced  upon  us  by  a  horde  of  land  pirates  with 
impunity  in  a  Christian  republic  and  land  of  liberty 
(while  the  institutions  of  justice  have  either  been  too 
weak  to  afford  us  protection  or  redress,  or  else  they  too 
have  been  remiss) ,  have  brought  us  to  the  solemn  conclu- 
sion that  our  exit  from  the  United  States  is  the  only 
alternative  ;  ...  we  can  then  shake  the  dust  from  our 
garments,  .  .  .  leaving  this  nation  alone  in  her  glory, 
while  the  residue  of  the  world  points  the  finger  of  scorn, 
till  the  indignation  and  consummation  decreed  makes  a 
full  end."  > 

In  1842  Joseph  Smith  had  said  that  the  Mormons 
would  finally  move  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  on 
February  20,  1844,  only  a  few  months  before  his  death, 
he  writes  iD  his  diary  :  — 

"  I  instructed  the  Twelve  Apostles  to  send  out  a  del- 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,  pp.  221-224. 


TJie  Mormon  Delusion.  65 

egation  and  investigate  the  localities  California  and 
Oregon,  and  hunt  out  a  good  location  where  we  can 
remove  to  after  the  temple  is  completed,  and  where  we 
can  build  a  city  in  a  day  and  have  a  government  of  our 
own ;  get  up  into  the  mountains  where  the  devil  cannot 
dig  us  out,  and  live  in  a  healthy  climate  where  we  can 
live  as  old  as  we  have  a  mind  to."  l 

The  prophet  also  sent  an  "  apostle"  to  Washington  City 
to  get  permission  for  the  Mormons  to  settle  in  Oregon. 
He  found  Stephen  A.  Douglas  and  the  cabinet  all  very 
willing  that  the  Mormons  should  depart,  but  the  secretary 
of  state  thought  that  as  the  title  to  Oregon  was  then  in 
dispute  with  England  it  was  not  best  that  they  should  go 
there.  When  the  Mormons  actually  set  out  from  Nauvoo 
for  the  west,  they  had  no  definite  location  in  view,  and 
there  is  no  reliable  evidence  that  they  then  knew  any- 
thing of  the  Salt  Lake  Valley.  Their  indefinite  goal  was 
merely  "the  Rocky  Mountains."  One  of  their  songs, 
composed  and  sung  on  the  way,  said  :  — 

"  The  upper  California,  oh,  that 's  the  land  for  me ! 

Early  in  February,  1846,  the  first  company  crossed  the 
Mississippi  River  into  Iowa,  and  during  that  month  some 
twelve  hundred  wagons  had  crossed  to  the  western  bank. 

By  the  middle  of  May  some  sixteen  thousand  Mormons 
had  left  Nauvoo  and  vicinity  and  were  slowly  making 
their  way  through  Iowa,  enduring  great  hardships. 
When  the  advance  company  had  fairly  got  on  their 
way,  and  the  rigors  of  winter  were  yet  upon  them,  the 
Mormon  elders  addressed  a  letter  to  the  governor  of 
Iowa,  asking  protection  while  passing  through  that  terri- 
tory, in  which  they  picture  their  situation  in  distressing 
colors,  as  follows  :  — 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,  p.  146. 


!  >» 


66  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

"  To  stay  is  death  by  fire  and  sword ;  to  go  into  ban- 
ishment unprepared  is  death  by  starvation.  But  yet, 
under  these  heart-rending  circumstances,  several  hun- 
dreds of  us  have  started  upon  our  dreary  journey,  and 
we  are  now  encamped  in  Lee  County,  Iowa,  suffering 
much  from  the  intensity  of  the  cold.  Some  of  us  also 
are  already  without  food,  and  others  have  barely  sufficient 
to  last  a  few  weeks ;  hundreds  of  others  must  shortly 
follow  us  in  the  same  unhappy  condition." 

No  one  can  place  any  reliance  upon  any  of  the  state- 
ments made  in  the  foregoing  petition  except  as  con- 
firmed by  other  evidence.  Without  doubt,  however, 
many  were  in  a  destitute  condition,  but  they  could 
have  avoided  the  severities  of  winter  by  waiting  until 
spring.  The  real  cause  of  the  harrowing  nature  of  the 
petition  probably  was  to  awaken  sympathy  and  so  avoid 
the  danger  of  attacks  from  citizens  of  Iowa  who  might 
fear  that  they  should  locate  in  their  midst.  Thus  an 
army  of  outcasts  from  Christian  civilization  were  wearily 
stretching  their  way  across  Iowa  prairies  during  the 
spring  and  summer  of  1846  —  pagans  in  a  Christian 
land,  forced  to  seek  isolation  beyond  the  frowning 
peaks  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  What  weariness  and 
suffering,  exposure  and  fear,  the  wives,  little  ones,  the 
feeble  and  aged  must  have  endured,  we  can  only  faintly 
imagine. 

When  the  great  exodus  had  taken  place,  there  were 
yet  left  in  Nauvoo  perhaps  one  thousand  Mormons, 
some  remaining  to  settle  up  their  business  affairs,  but 
most  of  them  too  poor  or  too  feeble  to  join  the  long 
emigrant  trains  plodding  their  weary  way  westward  — 
they  knew  not  where. 

Even  this  pouring  exodus,  leaving  a  silent  and  almost 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  67 

vacant  city,  did  not  satisfy  the  anti-Mormons  of  Hancock 
County.  They  meant  expulsion  to  the  uttermost  or  exter- 
mination. To  such  as  would  agree  to  abandon  the  Mor- 
mon faith  they  offered  protection  and  friendship.  In 
September,  1846,  eight  hundred  armed  men  and  six 
hundred  unarmed  laid  siege  to  Nauvoo  to  expel  the 
remnant.     Governor  Ford  says  :  — 

' '  As  a  general  thing  the  Mormons  were  ordered  to 
leave  within  an  hour  or  two  hours,  and  by  rare  grace 
some  of  them  were  allowed  until  next  day,  and  in  a  few 
cases  longer. 

' '  The  Mormons  had  been  forced  away  from  their  homes 
unprepared  for  a  journey.  They  and  their  women  and 
children  had  been  thrown  houseless  upon  the  Iowa  shore, 
without  provisions  or  the  means  of  getting  them,  or  to 
get  to  places  where  provisions  might  be  obtained.  It  was 
now  the  height  of  the  sickly  season.  Many  of  them  were 
taken  from  sick-beds,  hurried  into  the  boats  and  driven 
away  by  the  armed  ruffians  now  exercising  the  power  of 
government.  The  best  they  could  do  was  to  erect  their 
tents  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  there  remain  to  take 
their  chances  of  perishing  by  hunger  or  by  prevailing 
sickness.  In  this  condition  the  sick,  without  shelter, 
food,  nourishment,  or  medicines,  died  by  scores.  The 
mother  watched  her  sick  babe  without  hope,  and  when 
she  sank  under  accumulated  miseries,  it  was  only  to  be 
quickly  followed  by  her  other  children,  now  left  without 
the  least  attention  ;  for  the  men  had  scattered  out  over 
the  country  seeking  employment  and  the  means  of 
living."  1 

The  main  body  of  Mormon  refugees  kept  on  their  way 
until  winter  overtook  them  at  the  Missouri  River.     Part 

1  Ford's  History  of  Illinois. 


68  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

of  the  company  remained  on  the  east  side  of  the  river 
for  the  winter,  and  founded  a  village  which  they  called 
Kaneville,  but  which  is  now  the  city  of  Council  Bluffs  ; 
but  the  larger  numbers  crossed  the  river  and  established 
a  temporary  town,  which  they  named  "  Winter  Quarters/' 
six  miles  north  of  what  is  now  the  city  of  Omaha.  Here 
they  built  seven  hundred  log-huts  and  "  dug-outs."  At 
various  places  along  their  journey  they  had  established 
villages  which  were  in  part  for  their  own  present  comfort 
and  also  were  to  be  occupied  by  some  of  their  number, 
that  the  many  who  were  to  follow  them  might  have 
resting-places.  In  Iowa  these  were  named  Mount 
Pisgah,  Garden  Grove,  and  Kaneville. 

It  has  been  common  to  denounce  the  expulsion  of  the 
Mormons  from  Missouri  and  Illinois  as  a  resort  to  mob 
law.  The  Mormons  have  made  the  most  of  this  through 
their  newspapers  and  in  their  harangues  throughout  all 
the  world.  Those  also  who  are  half-way  apologists  for 
them,  and  some  even  who  are  heartily  opposed  to  them, 
have  joined  in  this  wholesale  condemnation  of  the 
citizens  of  Missouri  and  of  Illinois  who  assisted  in 
these  evictions. 

There  are  some  considerations  on  the  other  side  of  this 
question  which  should  not  be  overlooked. 

1.  These  expulsions  were  not  effected  merely  or  chiefly 
by  mobs.  They  were  partly  mobocratic,  largely  by  the 
militia  of  the  state,  and  in  both  nearly  the  whole  commu- 
nity of  anti-Mormon  citizens,  even  the  officers  of  the 
law,  participated. 

2.  The  Mormons  were  not  condemned  to  expulsion 
without  trial.  From  the  beginnings  at  Kirtland  they 
had  been  tried  at  the  bar  of  public  sentiment,  were 
known   and   read   of    all   men,   and   had   resented    every 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  69 

entreaty,  warning,  and  threat,  and  utterly  defied  the 
Christian  public  sentiment  of  these  states  and  of  the 
world.  Besides  the  advocacy  of  their  so-called  religion, 
they  were  guilty  of  the  gravest  crimes  from  the  legal 
punishment  of  which  their  numbers  and  cunning  shielded 
them.  Mr.  T.  B.  H.  Stenhouse,  who  was  for  twenty-five 
years  one  of  the  leading  and  most  respectable  among  the 
Mormons,  and  whose  history  of  them  is  written  with  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  both  sides  of  the  question,  and 
who  is  more  inclined  to  excuse  than  to  condemn  them, 
says  about  the  Mormons  in  Missouri :  — 

"It  is  difficult  not  to  believe  that  the  few  leading 
men  around  Joseph  Smith  were  not  thorough  fanatics 
and  guilty  of  gross  crimes."  1 

Again  he  says  :  — 

"  The  intelligent  Mormon  knows  to-day  that  there  have 
been  in  church  fellowship,  from  the  days  of  Avard  up  to 
the  present,  men  who  have  done  the  deeds  charged  to  the 
Danites,  ready  to  execute  the  dirtiest  and  most  diabolical 
plans  that  ever  human  or  demoniac  vindictiveness  could 
conceive."2 

Concerning  the  attempted  indictment  of  leading  Mor- 
mons at  Nauvoo  for  counterfeiting,  he  says  :  — 

"That  bogus  money  was  made  and  in  circulation  in 
and  around  Nauvoo,  and  also  was  sent  to  a  distance  for 
circulation,  can  certainly  not  be  denied.  That  some  of 
'  the  brethren '  were  engaged  in  its  manufacture  seems 
to  be  well  supported  by  facts  which  subsequently  trans- 
pired." 3 

3.  These  expulsions  were  not  accomplished  by  men 
gathered  in  sudden  rage  and  ungovernable  fury.  These 
citizens  had  for  years  been  slowly  and  reluctantly  arriving 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,  p.  86.  2Ibid.  p.  93.  s  Ibid.  p.  218. 


70  Tlte  Mormon  Delusion. 

at  the  conclusion  that  this  was  the  only  practicable  way 
to  drive  the  Mormon  monster  out  of  their  body  politic. 
Their  action  was  the  explosive  force  of  the  indignation 
of  those  communities  which  had  long  been  gathering 
head. 

4.  The  state  had  for  years  known  of  the  unlawful 
deeds  of  the  Mormons,  but  had  done  nothing  effective 
to  punish  or  to  cast  them  forth.  The  slow  and  un- 
adapted  processes  of  the  law  seemed  in  this  case  unlikely 
ever  to  rid  the  state  of  the  excrescence.  Instead  of 
being  a  religion  it  was  a  vice  of  such  new,  cunning, 
and  abnormal  structure  that  the  laws  of  states  and  of 
Congress  had  not  then  (and  have  not  even  yet)  been 
framed  so  as  efficiently  to  throttle  or  uproot  it. 

5.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  also,  that  this  expulsive 
action  on  the  part  of  the  loyal  citizens  of  Missouri  and 
Illinois  did  accomplish  its  object  and  did  effectively  rid  * 
those  states  of  Mormonism  and  the  Mormons.  Had  the 
United  States  long  ago  adopted  similarly  vigorous  meas- 
ures (which  it  might  have  done  and  still  have  kept 
entirely  within  the  letter  of  the  law),  long  ago  would 
Mormonism  have  been  a  thing  of  the  past,  or  have  been 
shoveled  on  to  some  foreign  soil,  or  scooped  into  the 
Gulf  of  California.  How  much  of  delusion,  crime,  un- 
wary beguiling,  and  sufferings  worse  than  death,  from 
smothered  victims,  would  thus  have  been  saved  ! 

What  otherwise  and  better  could  the  afflicted  citizens 
of  Illinois  have  done?  There  was  the  Mormon  city  of 
Nauvoo,  with  its  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants  and  grow- 
ing like  a  mushroom,  with  "cranks"  drawn  to  it  by  its 
deluding  and  lying  miscreants  sent  into  all  the  earth ; 
prophet  and  people  hostile  to  state  and  nation  and  pro- 
claiming the  early  overthrow  of  all  kingdoms  but   their 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  71 

own  ;  with  every  male  member  a  well-drilled  and  well- 
armed  enemy ;  teaching  and  practicing  crimes  and  the 
vilest  abominations,  and  throwing  over  the  whole  the 
shocking  pretence  of  religion !  Had  this  development 
gone  on  unchecked  a  few  years  more,  the  state  of  Illinois 
would  have  been  almost  under  the  feet  of  the  Mormons. 
Reader,  had  yon  and  your  family  been  residing  near 
Nauvoo  at  that  time,  what  would  you  have  done?  It  is 
much  easier  to  denounce  in  this  case  than  to  suggest 
a  better  practical  remedy. 

On  the  fourteenth  of  April,  1849,  Brigham  Young 
set  out  from  Winter  Quarters  with  a  picked  company 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  on  an  exploring  expedition 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  search  of  a  new  location. 
On  the  twenty-fourth  of  July  of  the  same  season,  they 
reached  the  Salt  Lake  Valley. 

' '  When  Brigham  Young  and  the  body  of  the  pioneers 
first  got  a  glimpse  of  the  Great  Basin,  there  was  a 
universal  exclamation :  '  The  Land  of  Promise !  The 
Land  of  Promise  !  held  in  reserve  by  the  hand  of  God 
for  the  resting-place  of  his  saints  ! ' "  Thus  writes  the 
historian.  After  a  tedious  journey  over  unmade  roads, 
a  distance  of  eleven  hundred  miles,  and  passing  through 
so  many  difficulties  by  the  way,  it  would  have  been 
strange  indeed  had  the  weary  travelers  gazed  upon  the 
beautiful  scenery  of  Salt  Lake  Valley  without  admiration 
and  "  ecstasies  of  joy." 

"From  the  mouth  of  the  canon  through  which  the 
pioneers  had  entered  the  valley,  the  view  is  ravishing. 
In  the  distant  west  the  Great  Salt  Lake  lies  glistening 
like  a  sheet  of  silver,  and  in  every  direction  that  the  eye 
can  travel  lofty  mountains  bound  the  horizon."  1 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,  p.  259. 


72  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

It  was  promptly  decided  to  make  that  valley  their 
future  home,  and  within  four  days  the  future  city  of 
Salt  Lake  was  staked  out,  reserving,  even  then,  a  ten- 
acre  block  in  the  center  for  the  location  of  the  tabernacle 
and  temple,  where  those  costly  structures  have  since 
been  erected. 

In  the  autumn  most  of  this  pioneer  party  returned  to 
their  friends  on  the  Missouri  River  at  Winter  Quarters, 
and  when  the  spring  came  (1848)  a  large  body  took  up 
their  line  of  march  for  the  Salt  Lake  Valley. 

Soon  after,  four  thousand  more  followed  Brigham  into 
the  mountain  valley,  and  during  that  year  almost  all  the 
Saints  from  Illinois,  Missouri,  and  many  other  places, 
joined  in  the  pilgrimage,  and  the  new  settlement  in  the 
"  desert "  suddenly  became  a  thriving  city. 

A  general  epistle  was  issued  in  December,  1847,  by 
Brigham  Young  to  the  Saints  in  Europe,  announcing  the 
location  of  "  Zion"  henceforth  to  be  in  the  Rocky  Mount- 
ains, and  that  immigrants  were  to  come  from  Liverpool  to 
New  Orleans,  then  up  the  Mississippi  to  St.  Louis,  thence 
up  the  Missouri  River  to  Council  Bluffs,  and  then  across 
"  the  plains  "  by  wagon  and  foot-trains.  Young's  over- 
weening ambition  and  bombast  appeared  in  this  letter 
in  his  proclaiming  that  the  Mormons  were  now  "  at  peace 
with  all  nations,  kingdoms,  powers,  governments,  author- 
ities," and  he  invited  "  presidents,  emperors,  kings, 
princes,  nobles,  governors,  rulers,  and  judges  to  come 
and  help  us  to  build  a  house  to  the  name  of  the  God 
of  Jacob." 

One  important  incident  of  this  journey  should  be  noted. 
Brigham  Young  sent  a  Mormon  elder  to  Washington  City 
to  beg  of  President  Polk  that  the  United  States  would 
in  some  way  assist  the  Mormons  to  get  across  the  plains 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  73 

or  to  reach  the  Pacific  coast  via  Cape  Horn.  After  the 
elder  had,  by  many  interviews,  presented  his  plea  to  the 
President,  the  cabinet,  and  other  leading  men,  permission 
was  given  to  Colonel  Kearney,  then  en  route  to  the 
Mexican  War,  to  add  to  his  force  five  hundred  Mormon 
volunteers,  from  among  those  who  were  then  crossing 
the  plains,  and  that  twenty  thousand  dollars  of  advance 
pay  might  be  given  them.  Volunteer  soldiers  were  com- 
ing forward  in  larger  numbers  than  the  government 
required,  and  this  offer  to  the  Mormons  was  purely  a 
charitable  one  to  assist  them  in  what  the  Mormons  repre- 
sented was  "  their  distress."  Brigham  Young  eagerly 
sent  the  five  hundred  men  and  not  less  eagerly  received 
the  twenty  thousand  dollars  of  advance  pay  ;  and  also 
sent  his  agent  along  with  these  soldiers  till  the  next  pay- 
day arrived  to  secure  the  next  twenty  thousand  dollars. 
"There  are  very  hard  stories  told  about  the  use  of  this 
money  in  the  hands  of  Brigham.  Affidavits,  bearing 
evidence  of  truthfulness,  have  been  made  of  his  heart- 
less indifference  to  the  wants  of  the  wives  and  families 
of  the  absent  soldiers."  l 

The  kindly  purpose  of  the  United  States  government 
and  the  fact  that  this  was  clearly  understood  by  the 
Mormon  leaders  at  the  time  are  shown  also  in  a  letter  of 
the  late  Mormon  president,  John  Taylor,  to  TJie  Millen- 
nial Star,  the  Mormon  organ  in  England  at  that  time,  in 
which  he  says  :  — 

"  The  President  of  the  United  States  is  favorably 
disposed  toward  us.  He  has  sent  orders  to  have  five 
hundred  of  our  brethren  employed  in  an  expedition  to 
California.  ...  It  amounts  to  the  same  thing  as  paying 
them  for  going  where  they  were  destined  to  go  without." 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,  p.  247. 


74  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Nevertheless,  afterwards,  Brigharn  Young  fiercely  at- 
tacked the  action  of  the  United  States  government  in 
this  matter  by  declaring  that  the  government  demanded 
these  five  hundred  men  as  a  peremptory  draft,  and  that 
it  was  done  merely  to  take  away  from  the  emigrants  their 
natural  protectors  that  the  women  and  children  and 
others  might  be  cut  to  pieces  by  the  Indians.  One 
Mormon    said    from    the   pulpit    in    Salt    Lake    City :  — 

"  This  was  done  that  our  teams  and  our  women  and 
our  children  might  be  left  defenceless  in  the  Indian 
country,  and  so  be  killed  or  perish.  They  said  that  if 
we  would  furnish  the  men  we  might  go  on  in  peace  ;  if 
not,  they  would  cut  us  off  on  our  journey." 

This  bold  falsehood  has  been  harangued  to  the  Mor- 
mons through  all  their  Utah  history  and  in  all  parts  of 
the  world,  for  the  purpose  of  nursing  hatred  toward  the 
United  States,  while  Brigharn,  Taylor,  and  all  the  old 
leaders  knew  all  the  time  of  its  utter  falsity.  It  has 
had  a  powerful  influence  for  disloyalty  upon  the  Mormon 
people. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE    FIRST    TEN    YEARS    OF    MORMONISM    IN    THE    ROCKY 
MOUNTAINS. 

\  \  J  HEN  Brigharn  Young  led  the  Mormons  into  the 

V  V        Rock}7  Mountains  it  was  his  purpose  to  locate 

them  outside  of  United  States  territory  and  to  set  up  an 

independent   empire    which  should  have  no  higher  ruler 

than  the  despot  who  should  sit  as  president  of  the  Church 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  75 

of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints.  When  he  chose 
the  Valley  of  Salt  Lake  he  supposed  he  was  beyond  the 
reach  of  United  States  laws,  as  that  country  then  (1847) 
belonged  to  Mexico,  and  he  did  not  fear  any  force  which 
the  Mexicans  could  bring  against  him. 

Young's  vision  of  autocratic  empire  was  quickly  dis- 
solved. The  Mexican  War  terminated  in  the  treaty 
of  Guadaloupe  Hidalgo,  in  March,  1848,  by  which  the 
territory  now  embraced  in  Utah,  Nevada,  New  Mexico, 
and  Upper  California  was  ceded  to  the  United  States. 
Thus,  within  eight  months  after  the  Mormons  laid  out 
the  city  of  Salt  Lake  they  found  themselves,  unexpect- 
edly and  much  to  their  mortification,  again  within  the 
limits  of  the  government  to  which  they  have  never 
willingly  owned  loyalty.  Had  Brigham  Young,  however, 
then  known  that  the  United  States  government  would 
wait  forty  years  before  it  took  any  effective  steps  toward 
breaking  up  the  Mormon  harem  he  would  have  been  less 
regretful.  After  the  first  season  in  the  Salt  Lake  Valley 
the  Mormons  sent  out  over  all  the  earth  the  most  extrav- 
agant accounts  of  the  unparalleled  productiveness  of  the 
soil  in  that  "  desert."  They  claimed  that  wheat  yielded 
"sixty  bushels  per  acre;"  that  one  grain  of  wheat 
brought  seventy-two  heads  of  wheat ;  that  after  one 
crop  of  barley  had  been  harvested  the  ground  was 
resown  the  same  season  and  yielded  a  second  crop  four 
times  the  amount  of  the  first ;  that  after  one  crop  of  oats 
had  been  cut  the  old  roots  put  forth  new  leaves  and  a 
second  abundant  crop  was  harvested  ;  that  the  same  soil 
yielded  three  successive  crops  of  peas  in  one  season ; 
etc.  etc.  But  a  clerk  in  Brigham  Young's  office,  in  a 
letter  to  The  Millennial  Star,  at  Liverpool,  England, 
outrivaled  all  the  Saints  in  his  account  of  the  glories  of 
the  new  Zion  as  follows  :  — 


76  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

"Above  all,  they  report  that  (Dr.)  Mother  Sessions 
has  had  a  harvest  of  248  little  cherubs  since  living  in  the 
valley.  Many  cases  of  twins.  In  a  row  of  seven 
houses  joining  each  other,  eight  births  in  one  week. 
Oh,  ye  hungry  souls,  rejoice  and  shout  for  joy  !  Oh, 
ye  barren  ;  ye  who  have  been  bereft  of  your  children, 
praise  the  Lord  !  The  place  is  found  where  you  can 
rear  your  tender  offspring  like  olive  branches  around 
your  table.    .    .    .   Hosanna  !  " ] 

"  However  much  the  foreign  Saints  ma}7  already  have 
rejoiced  in  the  Latter  Day  faith,  such  a  letter  was  worth 
a  hundred  sermons  and  epistles  upon  emigration.  The 
author  well  remembers  how  it  caught  the  toiling,  strug- 
gling, poor  Saints  of  Britain,  and  the  delicate  comfort 
extended  to  the  spinsters  was  not  unappreciated.  Many 
a  downcast,  mourning  soul  drank  consolation  and  sang 
with  joy,  '  To  the  West,  to  the  West,  to  the  land  of  the 
free  ! '  " 2 

Immigrants  began  to  pour  in  like  bees  into  a  field  of 
buckwheat  in  full  blossom.  One  company  of  six  hun- 
dred crossed  the  ocean,  rounded  Cape  Horn,  and  came  in 
by  way  of  California.  But  grasshoppers  came  also,  and 
the  next  season's  crops  were  destroyed. 

"In  the  spring  of  1849  the  inventory  of  provisions 
showed  that  there  was  only  three  quarters  of  a  pound  of 
breadstuffs  per  day  for  each  person  up  to  the  fifth  of  July. 
The  people  were  put  upon  rations,  and  much  suffering 
ensued.  Many  of  them  went  out  with  the  Indians  and 
dug  small  native  roots,  and  ate  them  with  anything  they 
could  get.  It  is  related  that  some,  in  their  destitution, 
even  took  the  hides  of  animals  with  which  they  had  cov- 
ered the  roofs  of  their  houses,  and  cut  them  up  and  cooked 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints.  2Ibid. 


TJie  Mormon  Delusion.  11 

them  for  their  use.  The  desert  to  which  they  had  come 
was  as  cheerless  as  their  past  history.  From  cruel  foes 
they  had  fled  to  as  unfeeling  a  wilderness.  Starvation 
and  nakedness  stared  in  the  gloomy  faces  of  the  despond- 
ing people.  Murmurs  and  complaints  were  uttered. 
Brigham  quelled  everything ;  scolded,  pleaded,  threat- 
ened, prophesied,  and  subdued  them.  With  a  restless 
but  resistless  energy  he  set  them  to  work,  and  worked 
himself  as  their  example.  He  directed  their  labors,  con- 
trolled their  domestic  affairs,  preached  at  them,  to  them, 
for  them.  He  told  foolish  anecdotes  to  make  them  laugh, 
encouraged  their  dancing  to  make  them  merry,  got  up 
theatrical  performances  to  distract  their  minds,  and  made 
them  work  hard,  certain  of  rendering  them  contented 
thereby.  Brigham  swayed  them  at  his  will.  They 
learned  to  dread  his  iron  hand,  and  were  daunted  by 
his  iron  heart." 

"  The  harvest  of  1849  was  fortunately  abundant,  and 
all  was  saved."  1 

Young  resolved  not  to  be  deterred  from  realizing  his 
dream  of  independent  empire.  The  Mormons  arrived  in 
the  Salt  Lake  Valley  in  July,  1847,  and  in  March,  1849, 
Brigham  Young  proceeded  to  organize,  by  a  convention 
of  citizens,  "  a  free  and  independent  Government  by  the 
name  of  the  State  of  Deseret,"  and  gave  it  boundaries 
which  would  include  Utah,  Nevada,  and  Arizona,  and 
parts  of  New  Mexico,  California,  Idaho,  Wyoming,  and 
Colorado.  He  had  no  idea  of  confining  the  Saints 
within  narrow  limits  which  would  expose  them  to  the 
possibility  of  having  neighbors.  He  was  "chosen" 
governor  of  the  "  State  of  Deseret,"  and  delegates 
were  sent  to  Washington  to  get  admission  to  the  Union. 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,  p.  271. 


78  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Congress,  however,  ignored  the  pretentious  "  Deseret," 
and  in  1850  organized  a  territory  of  fair  proportions  and 
named  it  Utah.  Although  Brigham  Young  was  appointed 
governor  of  Utah  Territory,  he  never  gave  up,  during  his 
life-time,  the  organization  of  the  State  of  Deseret  nor 
his  governorship  of  that  shadowy  realm.  Out  of  con- 
gressional compulsion  he  carried  on  the  territory  of 
Utah,  but  on  the  next  day  after  the  territorial  legisla- 
ture of  Utah  would  adjourn,  Brigham  Young,  as  "  gov- 
ernor of  Deseret,"  would  convene  the  same  persons  as 
the  ;i  legislature  of  Deseret,"  read  his  message  to  them, 
and  then  some  one  would  move  that  the  laws  which  had 
just  been  enacted  by  the  legislature  of  Utah  be  the  laws 
for  the  State  of  Deseret.  This  motion  would  be  carried 
and  then  this  state  legislature  would  adjourn.  This  child- 
ish and  disloyal  farce  was  kept  up  for  over  a  quarter  of  a 
century.  This  accounts  for  the  prominence  given  to  the 
name  u  Deseret"  in  their  literature. 

President  Millard  Fillmore  appointed  Brigham  Young 
governor  of  Utah  Territory,  and  other  Mormons  to  the 
offices  of  associate  justice,  United  States  attorney,  and 
United  States  marshal.  This  appointment  of  Mormons 
to  important  offices  under  the  United  States  government, 
when  the  character  of  the  Saints  was  well  known,  and 
when  Young  already  had  several  wives,  was  the  begin- 
ning of  shame  to  the  United  States.  The  Mormons  have 
ever  since,  and  especially  in  their  efforts  to  secure  state- 
hood for  Utah  as  late  as  1887,1  used  this  appointment 
as  an  argument  that  the  government  had  winked  at 
polygamy  for  many  years,  and  therefore  ought  not  now 
to  refuse  statehood  to  that  polygamous  territory. 

1  George  Tieknor  Curtis,  the  attorney  for  the  Mormons,  in    The  Forum 
for  November,  1887. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  79 

The  federal  territorial  officers  who  were  not  Mormons 
were  treated  with  so  much  indignity,  and  their  lives  put 
in  such  jeopardy  by  the  Mormons,  that  they  soon  resigned 
and  left  the  territory.  One  of  the  court  judges  in  a 
public  address  ventured  to  denounce  polygamy,  and 
Brigham  Young  made  a  threatening  reply  and  ' '  the 
people  would  have  torn  the  federal  functionary  into 
shreds  if  the  prophet  had  not  restrained  them."  l  The 
Mormon  legislature  then  gave  to  the  territorial  probate 
courts  the  jurisdiction  that  belonged  to  the  United  States 
courts,  and  thus  the  Saints  had  it  all  their  own  way  for 
a  time. 

But  the  United  States  government  appointed  other 
officers  to  take  the  place  of  those  who  had  left  the 
territory.  Judges  Reed  and  Shaver  were  appointed  to 
the  vacant  judgeships,  and  Mr.  Ferris  to  be  territorial 
secretary.  It  was  not  only  very  unpleasant,  but  very 
hazardous,  to  accept  a  government  appointment  at  this 
time  in  Utah,  unless  the  officers  were  obedient  to  the 
desires  of  Brigham  Young.  Judge  Shaver  had  some 
difficulty  with  Brigham  Young  and  was  soon  afterward 
found  dead  in  his  bed ;  Judge  Reed  went  eastward  again 
and  soon  died  ;  while  Secretary  Ferris  early  decided  to 
go  on  to  California. 

A  third  supply  of  United  States  officers  appeared  in 
Salt  Lake  City,  after  a  time,  some  of  whom  were  Mor- 
mons, and  some  were  of  more  benefit  to  the  Mormons 
by  their  subserviency  than  they  would  have  been  had  they 
been  open  adherents.  It  is  one  of  the  most  surprising 
facts  in  the  whole  history  of  this  national  disgrace  that 
Presidents  Fillmore  and  Pierce  should  have  appointed 
Brigham  Young   to   be    governor   of    the   territory,   and 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints. 


80  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

other  Mormons  to  several  minor  offices.  President 
Pierce  re-appointed  Young  in  1855.  and  at  one  time  all 
the  government  officers  in  the  territory,  except  two, 
were  Mormons.  The  temper  of  the  prophet  may  be  seen 
from  his  address  at  the  Mormon  Tabernacle,  in  June, 
1853.  It  had  been  reported  that  Young  had  declared 
concerning  President  Zachary  Taylor,  "Old  Zachary  is 
in  hell,  and  I  am  glad  of  it ;"  but  Brigham  testified  :  "  I 
simply  bore  testimony  to  the  truth  of  it."  When  the 
loyal  sentiment  of  the  country  was  aroused  against  him 
and  demanded  his  removal,  he  declared  in  a  public 
discourse:  "  I  am  and  will  be  Governor,  and  no  power 
can  hinder  it,  until  the  Lord  Almighty  says:  '  Brigham, 
you  need  not  be  Governor  any  longer.'  "  Even  after 
this,  President  Pierce  re-appointed  him  governor  of  the 
territory  and  also  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs. 

In  1857,  in  a  dispute  between  a  United  States  marshal 
and  a  Mormon  officer  claiming  the  same  office  under  Mor- 
mon territorial  appointment,  the  United  States  district 
judge,  George  P.  Stiles,  decided  against  the  Mormon 
claim.  The  Mormon  lawyers  in  the  court-room  at  once 
threatened  the  judge  with  personal  violence,  and  he 
immediately  adjourned  the  court.  A  Mormon  mob 
afterwards  entered  his  office,  carried  off  and  concealed 
the  records  of  the  United  States  courts,  and  burned  his 
office  with  his  private  books  and  papers. 

About  this  time  the  Mormon  authorities  commanded 
("counseled!")  seventy  of  their  families  to  remove 
some  seven  hundred  miles  and  begin  a  Mormon  settle- 
ment in  Carson  County.  The  Gentiles  were  already 
there,  and  the  usual  hostilities  sprang  up.  The  two  com- 
munities armed  and  prepared  for  battle,  but,  after  camp- 
ing in  front  of  each  other  for  two  weeks,  the  Mormons 
withdrew. 


The  Mormon  Delusion  81 

From  that  day  until  the  present  (1890)  the  Mormon 
officials  have  invariably  pursued  a  well-defined  policy 
toward  all  United  States  officers,  as  follows  :  — 

The  Mormons  would  first  attempt  by  attentions  and 
flattery  to  blind  the  eyes  of  government  officers  and  win 
them  over  to  become  defenders  of  the  Saints,  or  at  least 
their  apologists.  Mr.  T.  B.  H.  Stenhouse,  from  his 
twenty-five  years  of  life  as  a  high  Mormon  official,  and 
whose  daughter  became  the  fourth  polygamous  wife  of 
Brigham  Young's  oldest  son,  knew  intimately  whereof  he 
was  speaking  when  he  described  this  policy. 

He  says  that  newly  arrived  United  States  officers 
would  be  received  with  great  consideration  by  Brigham 
Young ;  would  be  invited  to  his  house  and  be  introduced 
to  some  of  his  wives ;  would  receive  complimentary 
tickets  to  the  Mormon  entertainments  at  Social  Hall, 
and  would  there  be  introduced  to  the  assembled  Saints 
by  Young,  with  high-sounding  titles.  If  these  attentions 
produced  the  intended  effect,  the  flattered  officers  would 
declare  that  the  Mormons  were  the  best  people  in 
the  world  ;  would  immediately  write  letters  to  eastern 
newspapers  that  the  Mormons  had  been  greatly  misrepre- 
sented and  that  they  deserved  sympathy  rather  than 
censure. 

One  such  United  States  judge  joined  the  Mormon 
Church ;  other  officers  danced  at  Mormon  balls  ;  others 
traveled  over  Utah  with  Brigham  Young  in  his  annual 
parade. 

' '  The  ostensible  '  friendship  '  of  these  federal  officials 
has  done  a  great  wrong  to  the  people  of  Utah.  Who- 
ever else  has  been  deceived  by  such  testimony,  there 
is  no  reason  for  concluding  that  either  the  ruling  priest- 
hood or  the  officials  themselves  were  among  that  number. 


82  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Brigham's  enmity  against  the  government  was  too  deeply 
rooted  for  him  ever  to  have  trusted  one  of  its  represen- 
tatives beyond  what  he  wanted  the  public  to  be  told. 

"These  few  pliant  officials  have  more  successfully 
covered  up  the  wrongs  committed  in  Utah,  have  done 
more  to  shield  the  guilty  and  to  deceive  the  public,  than 
all  their  other  federal  associates  have  ever  been  able  to 
do  in  telling  the  truth,  enforcing  the  execution  of  law, 
bringing  crime  to  light,  and  reaching  the  guilty  with 
punishment. 

"  Concealment  encouraged  fanaticism,  and  crimes  were 
committed  which  ivould  never  have  been  attempted  had  the 
vigilance  of  the  law  been  a  certainty.  Had  the  wrongs  and 
murders  in  Utah  been  dealt  with  promptly  at  the  time 
of  their  occurrence,  it  would  have  been  to  the  honor  of 
the  territory  to-day  that  the  violation  of  law  had  never 
gone  unpunished,  and  that  terrible  fanaticism,  which 
struck  terror  into  the  souls  of  all  who  witnessed  its 
influence,  would  have  been  suppressed  in  its  infancy. "l 

Tt  should  also  be  noted  that  this  method  of  blinding 
the  eyes  of  visitors  in  Utah  by  assiduous  attentions  from 
Mormons  has  been,  throughout  their  history,  their  favorite 
method  of  dealing  with  all  strangers,  and  especially  all 
who  may  possibly  be  newspaper  correspondents.  They 
are  "  taken  in  hand  "  from  arrival  to  departure,  and 
many  are  thus  deceived,  and  write  long  articles  about 
the  hospitality  of  the  Saints,  and  how  much  they  have 
been  misunderstood  and  misrepresented.  Let  every  wise 
reader  understand  that  such  writing  only  shows  either 
that  the  writer  thereof  has  been  successfully  fc<  hood- 
winked," or  that  Mormon  practices  are  not  distasteful 
to  him. 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,  p.  286. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  83 

In  case  the  foregoing  method  has  not  accomplished  its 
purpose  with  all  United  States  officers  they  have  then,  by 
falsehoods,  set  the  officers  at  variance  with  each  other, 
and  then  laughed  behind  the  curtains  to  see  the  majesty 
of  United  States  laws  ! 

If  these  methods  have  not  been  successful,  threats, 
intimidation,  and,  in  some  cases,  assassination  have 
followed,  concerning  which  more  particulars  are  given 
hereafter  in  these  pages.  In  all  these  methods  the 
basis  of  Mormon  success  has  always  been  in  the  fact 
that  some  of  the  United  States  officers  would  be  in 
sympathy  with  them. 

When  fawning,  quarrels.,  and  violence  have  failed  to 
shake  the  faithfulness  of  some  officers,  the  last  resort 
has  been  slander.  Mr.  T.  B.  H.  Stenhouse  says  :  "  From 
the  beginning  of  Mormonism  the  ruling  authorities  have 
accepted  defamation  of  character  as  the  best  weapon  with 
which  to  assail." 

As  soon  as  a  federal  officer  is  appointed  to  Utah, 
the  Mormons  quietly  have  the  record  of  all  his  past 
life  searched  out,  and  the  documents  concerning  every 
weak  spot  are  carefully  "  pigeon-holed,"  to  be  brought 
forth,  exaggerated  and  discolored,  when  the  time  for 
attack  shall  come.  These  slanderous  reports  generally 
appear  first  in  some  daily  paper  in  New  York  City, 
Washington,  or  Chicago.  In  some  cases  bad  men  have 
been  appointed  to  government  offices  and  the  Mormons 
were  quick  to  make  the  most  of  such  instances,  if  the 
officer  was  against  them.  If  he  was  their  friend,  his 
peccadilloes  or  other  immoralities  were  covered.  As 
early  as  1854  United  States  officers  who  were  capable 
of  such  baseness  were  enticed  into  houses  of  ill-fame, 
and  then  either  exposed  or  a  threatened  exposure  would 


84  Tlie  Mormon  Delusion. 

be  held  as  a  club  over  their  heads.  Of  such  Young 
said  in  a  sermon  in  the  tabernacle  :  "  The  Lord  put  a 
hook  into  their  noses."  One  thing  is  certain :  the 
"hook"  was  always  held  in  the  hands  of  Brigham, 
who  never  failed  to  pull  it  when  Morrnonism  needed 
an  unwilling  servant.  The  same  method  was  attempted 
upon  United  States  officers  as  late  as  1887.  So  far  as 
they  have  been  knowingly  led  into  such  places,  no  right- 
minded  person  will  regret  their  discomfiture,  but  it  is 
safest  to  take  Mormon  statements  at  zero  unless  sub- 
stantiated by  other  evidence. 

On  the  twenty-fourth  of  July,  1857,  the  tenth 
anniversary  of  their  arrival  in  the  Salt  Lake  Valley, 
the  Mormons  had  a  celebration  and  Brigham  Young 
made  an  address  in  which  he  reminded  them  that  he 
had  said,  ten  years  prior,  that  if  they  could  have  ten 
years  of  unmolested  peace,  he  "  would  ask  no  odds  of 
Uncle  Sam,"  and  he  was  now  ready  to  declare  that  "  God 
was  with  them,"  and  he  would  now  "  ask  no  odds  of 
Uncle  Sam ; "  and  he  prophesied  that  in  twelve  years 
more  he  would  himself  be  President  of  the  United  States, 
or  would  dictate  who  should  be. 

When  James  Buchanan  became  President  he  appointed 
a  new  set  of  officers  for  Utah  Territory,  and  the  secretary 
of  war  gave  orders  that  Utah  should  be  made  a  military 
district  and  an  army  sent  there  to  protect  the  United 
States  officers.  Major-General  Stewart  Van  Vliet  was 
sent  in  advance  to  Salt  Lake  City  to  prepare  for  the 
needs  of  the  coming  army.  A  Mormon  agent  in  New 
York  heard  of  the  move  of  the  government  aud  immedi- 
ately hastened  across  the  continent  to  apprise  Brigham  of 
the  approaching  military  force.  Brigham  went  into  a  rage 
and  promptly  began   preparations  for  war.      Messengers 


The  Mormon  Delusioyi.  85 

were  immediately  sent  to  the  Mormon  colony  at  San 
Bernardino,  California,  and  to  that  in  the  Carson  Valley, 
to  leave  everything  and  hasten  to  Salt  Lake  City. 

"  The  Saints  had  no  time  now  to  lose  ;  the  enemy  was 
approaching  their  homes.  War  was  then  everything  in 
Utah.  The  leaders  preached  war,  prayed  war,  taught 
war ;  while  saintly  poets  scribbled  war,  and  the  people 
sang  their  ditties.  '  The  God  of  Battles '  was  the  deity 
of  the  hour,  and  his  influence  was  everywhere  seen  and 
felt.  Public  works  and  private  enterprise  were  alike 
suspended,  while  every  artist  who  had  sufficient  genius 
for  the  manufacture  of  revolvers,  repairing  old  guns,  or 
burnishing  and  sharpening  rusty  sabres  and  bayonets, 
was  pressed  into  service  for  the  defence  of  Zion.  The 
sisters  too  were  seized  with  war-fever,  and  their  weav- 
ing and  knitting  talents  were  fully  exercised  in  prepara- 
tion for  the  coming  campaign.  It  was  a  great  time  for 
rejoicing  in  the  Lord,  cursing  Uncle  Sam,  and  keeping 
powder  dry."  1 

A  special  agent  was  hastened  to  Europe  to  call  back 
to  the  Utah  "  Zion  "  all  elders  on  "missions"  abroad, 
while  the  elders  in  the  eastern  states,  as  well  as  those  on 
the  Pacific  coast,  were  summoned  home. 

The  Mormon  poets  also  joined  in  arousing  enthusiasm 
for  a  war  with  the  United  States,  and  the  tabernacle  ser- 
vices rang  with  the  following  song  :  — 

Up,  awake,  ye  defenders  of  Zion  ! 

The  foe 's  at  the  door  of  your  homes ; 
Let  each  heart  be  the  heart  of  a  lion, 

Unyielding  nnd  proud  as  he  roams. 

Remember  the  wrongs  of  Missouri ; 

Forget  not  the  fate  of  Nauvoo  ; 
When  the  God-hating  foe  is  before  ye, 
Stand  firm,  and  be  faithful  and  true. 
1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,  p.  253. 


S6  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Opposed  by  a  proud,  boasting  nation, 
Their  numbers,  compared,  may  be  few; 

But  their  union  is  known  through  creation, 
And  they  * ve  always  been  faithful  and  true. 

Though  assisted  by  legions  infernal, 

The  plundering  wretches  advance, 
With  a  host  from  the  regions  eternal, 

We  '11  scatter  their  troops  at  a  glance ! 

The  Mormon  newspapers  —  The  Mormon,  published 
in  New  York  City,  and  The  Western  Standard,  at 
San  Francisco  —  were  ordered  to  be  discontinued.  The 
Mormon  missionaries  returning  from  Europe  crossed  the 
Atlantic  under  assumed  names  and  fictitious  occupations, 
and  upon  arriving  in  New  York  secreted  themselves 
until  they  could  take  steamers  for  the  Pacific  coast, 
rather  than  risk  a  journey  across  the  plains  where  they 
might  get  sight  of  the  United  States  troops.  Those 
who  dared  to  return  to  Utah  overland  went  by  different 
routes  and  carefully  avoided  recognition. 

All  this  fear  was  most  ludicrous,  for  the  government 
was  not  making  war  upon  the  Mormons,  but  merely 
planting  the  headquarters  of  a  military  district  at  Salt 
Lake  City  that  a  military  force  might  be  at  hand  to 
sustain  the  United  States  officers  in  that  territory. 

Major-General  Van  Vliet,  upon  his  return  to  Wash- 
ington, reported  to  the  secretary  of  war,  in  part,  as 
follows  :  — 

"He  (Brigham)  stated  that  the  Mormons  had  been 
persecuted,  murdered,  and  robbed  in  Missouri  and 
Illinois,  both  by  the  mob  and  state  authorities,  and  that 
now  the  United  States  were  about  to  pursue  the  same 
course,  and  that  therefore  he  and  the  people  of  Utah 
had  determined  to  resist  all  persecution  at  the  commence- 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  87 

ment,  and  that  the  troops  now  on  the  march  for  Utah 
should  not  enter  the  Great  Salt  Lake  Valley.  As  he 
uttered  these  words,  all  there  present  concurred  most 
heartily  in  what  he  said. 

"I  attended  their  service  on  Sunday,  and  in  the  course 
of  a  sermon  delivered  by  Elder  Taylor  he  referred  to  the 
approach  of  the  troops,  and  declared  they  should  not 
enter  the  territory.  He  then  referred  to  the  probability 
of  an  overpowering  force  being  sent  against  them,  and 
desired  all  present  who  would  apply  the  torch  to  their 
own  buildings,  cut  down  their  trees,  and  lay  waste  their 
fields  to  hold  up  their  hands  ;  every  hand  in  an  audience 
numbering  over  four  thousand  persons  was  raised  at  the 
same  moment. 

"At  present  Governor  Young  exercises  absolute 
power,  both  temporal  and  spiritual,  over  the  people  of 
Utah,  both  of  which  powers  he  and  the  people  profess 
to  emanate  directly  from  the  Almighty.  Hence  the  oppo- 
sition of  the  people  to  a  new  governor,  and  the  remark  of 
Governor  Young  that  should  Governor  Cumming  enter 
the  territory,  he  would  place  him  in  his  carriage  and  send 
him  back. 

"I  heard  Elder  John  Taylor,  in  a  discourse  to  a  con- 
gregation of  over  four  thousand  Mormons,  say  that  noue 
of  the  rulers  of  the  earth  were  entitled  to  their  positious 
unless  appointed  to  them  by  the  Lord,  and  that  the 
Almighty  had  appointed  a  man  to  rule  over  and  govern 
his  Saints,  and  that  man  was  Brigham  Young,  and  that 
they  would  have  no  one  else  to  rule  over  them." 

The  next  day  after  General  Van  Vliet  left  Salt  Lake 
City  for  Washington  (on  September  14,  1857)  Brigham 
Young  issued  a  proclamation  to  the  "  citizens  of  Utah," 
in   which   he   declared   war   against   the   United    States 


88  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

forces,  which  he  said  were  coming  to  conquer  that  terri- 
tory, and  said :  — 

"  We  are  invaded  by  a  hostile  force,  who  are  evidently 
assailing  us  to  accomplish  our  overthrow  and  destruction. 
For  the  last  twenty-five  years  we  have  trusted  officials 
of  the  government,  from  constables  and  justices  to 
judges,  governors,  and  presidents,  only  to  be  scorned, 
held  in  derision,  insulted,  and  betrayed.   .   .   . 

"  Our  opponents  have  availed  themselves  of  prejudice 
existing  against  us  because  of  our  religious  faith,  to  send 
out  a  formidable  host  to  accomplish  our  destruction. 
We  have  had  no  privilege,  no  opportunity  of  defending 
ourselves  from  the  false,  foul,  and  unjust  aspersions 
against  us  before  the  nation. 

"The  government  has  not  condescended  to  cause  an 
investigating  committee  or  other  person  to  be  sent  out 
to  inquire  into  and  ascertain  the  truth,  as  is  customary 
in  such  cases.   .   .   . 

"  Therefore,  I,  Brigham  Young,  Governor,  and  Super- 
intendent of  Indian  Affairs  for  the  Territory  of  Utah, 
in  the  name  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  the 
Territory  of  Utah  :  — 

"  1st.  Forbid  all  armed  forces  of  every  description 
from  coming  into  this  Territory,  under  any  pretence 
whatever. 

"  2d.  That  all  forces  in  said  Territory  hold  themselves 
in  readiness  to  march  at  a  moment's  notice  to  repel  any 
and  all  such  invasion. 

"3d.  Martial  law  is  hereby  declared  to  exist  in  this 
Territory  from  and  after  the  publication  of  this  procla- 
mation, and  no  person  shall  be  allowed  to  pass  or  repass 
into,  or  through,  or  from  the  Territory  without  a  permit 
from  the  proper  officers." 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  89 

The  United  States  was  not  even  proposing  to  make 
war  upon  the  Mormons,  but  merely  to  protect  its  own 
courts.  Brigham's  nature  is  seen  in  darkest  colors  when 
we  note  that  he  used  these  words  after  Van  Vliet  had 
fully  explained  to  him  the  peaceable  object  of  the  mili- 
tary expedition. 

On  the  next  Sunday  Young  preached  twice  to  his 
people,  and  said  :  — 

"  This  people  are  free  ;  they  are  not  in  bondage  to  any 
government  on  God's  footstool.  We  have  transgressed  no 
law,  and  we  have  no  occasion  to  do  so,  neither  do  we  in- 
tend ;  but  as  for  any  nation's  coming  to  destroy  this  people, 
God  Almighty  being  my  helper,  they  cannot  come  here. 
[The  congregation  responded  with  a  loud  "  Amen."] 

' '  We  have  borne  enough  of  their  oppression  and  their 
hellish  abuse,  and  we  will  not  bear  any  more  of  it,  for 
there  is  no  just  law  requiring  further  forbearance  on  our 
part.  .  ..  .  Come  on  with  your  thousands  of  illegally 
ordered  troops,  and  I  will  promise  you,  in  the  name  of 
Israel's  God,  that  you  shall  melt  away  as  snow  before 
a  July  sun. 

"  I  have  told  you  that  if  this  people  will  live  their 
religion,  all  will  be  well;  and  I  have  told  you  that  if 
there  is  any  man  or  woman  who  is  not  willing  to  destroy 
anything  or  everything  of  their  property  that  would  be 
of  use  to  an  enemy  if  left,  I  wanted  them  to  go  out  of 
the  territory.  And  I  again  say  so  to-day  ;  for  when  the 
time  comes  to  burn  and  lay  waste  our  improvements,  if  a 
man  undertakes  to  shield  his,  he  will  be  sheared  down. 
Before  I  will  suffer  what  I  have  in  times  gone  by,  there 
shall  not  be  one  building  nor  one  foot  of  lumber,  not 
a  stick,  nor  a  tree,  nor  a  particle  of  grass  or  hay  that 
will  burn  left  in  reach  of  our  enemies.     I  am  sworn,  if 


90  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

driven  to  extremity,  to  utterly  lay  waste,  in  the  name 
of  Israel's  God."1" 

When  we  remember  that  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
Mormon  people  were  ignorant,  deluded,  and  fanatical, 
and  that  they  were  at  this  time  one  thousand  miles 
from  civilization  and  railroads  and  where  escape  was 
impossible,  and  looked  upon  Brigham  as  a  real  prophet 
of  the  Lord  whom  they  should  believe  in  and  obey,  and 
that  the  life  or  property  of  any  human  being  who  stood 
in  the  way  of  Young's  will  was  doomed,  and  that  he 
was  surrounded  by  a  priesthood  of  officers  as  unprinci- 
pled and  remorseless  as  himself,  —  when  all  these  facts 
are  kept  in  mind,  it  must  temper  our  judgment  against 
the  mass  of  Mormon  people  for  their  rebellious  acts,  and 
at  the  same  time  intensify  our  condemnation  of  Young 
and  his  co-conspirators  for  their  causeless  treason. 

The  Mormon  rebels  were  commanded  by  Daniel  H. 
Wells,  a  high  officer  of  Young.  The  United  States 
troops  must  enter  the  Salt  Lake  Valley  through  Echo 
Canon,  a  narrow  defile  twenty-five  miles  in  length,  with 
precipitous  sides,  stretching  through  the  Wahsatch  range. 
Upon  the  summit  of  the  rocky  cliffs  overlooking  this 
canon  the  Mormons  erected  stone  breastworks  and  dug- 
trenches  within  which  to  conceal  their  riflemen  ;  and  upon 
the  overhanging  peaks  great  heaps  of  rocks  were  piled. 
Then  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  defile  dams  were 
constructed  in  which  to  gather  water.  Thus  when  the 
United  States  troops  would  pass  through,  the  water  was 
to  be  poured  down  in  a  destructive  torrent  upon  them. 
Those  who  should  escape  this  would  rush  to  the  other  side 
of  the  defile  only  to  receive  upon  their  heads  the  deadly 
bowlders  to  be  thrown  from  the  heights  above  and  the 

1  The  Deseret  News,  the  Mormon  organ,  November  18, 1857. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  91 

bullets  from  the  concealed  rifle-pits.  This  was  the  Mor- 
mon plan  of  attack,  should  the  troops  escape  the  dangers  of 
the  plains  and  the  murderous  Mormon  devices  to  destroy 
them  before  they  should  enter  the  canon.  In  this  latter, 
however,  they  were  practically  successful.  The  whole 
expedition  was  a  miserable  failure,  bringing  great  suf- 
ferings and  many  deaths  to  the  soldiers  and  a  loss  of 
millions  of  dollars  to  the  United  States,  while  it  only 
added  to  the  defiant  and  rebellious  spirit  of  the  Mormons. 

On  the  fourth  of  October  the  Mormon  general,  D.  H. 
Wells,  issued  the  following  order  to  his  subordinates  :  — 

"  On  ascertaining  the  locality  or  route  of  the  troops, 
proceed  at  once  to  annoy  them  in  every  possible  way. 
Use  every  exertion  to  stampede  their  animals  and  set  fire 
to  their  trains.  Burn  the  whole  country  before  them  and 
on  their  flanks.  Keep  them  from  sleeping  by  night  sur- 
prises. Blockade  the  road  by  felliug  trees  or  destroying 
the  fords  where  you  can.  Watch  opportunities  to  set  fire 
to  the  grass  on  their  windward,  so  as,  if  possible,  to 
envelop  their  trains.  Leave  no  grass  before  them  that 
can  be  burned.  Keep  your  men  concealed  as  much  as 
possible,  and  guard  against  surprise." 

The  United  States  forces  were  wholly  inadequate  in 
numbers  to  cope  with  the  Mormons  when  all  the  odds 
were  against  them.  They  were  few  in  numbers ;  the 
route  was  through  a  barren  desert ;  they  knew  nothing 
of  the  country,  while  the  Mormons,  who  were  harassing 
them  at  every  step,  knew  every  spot  in  all  that  region ; 
winter  was  near  at  hand,  while  the  cold  was  pitiless  and 
the  forage  supplies  nearly  exhausted  ;  no  grass  could  be 
had  to  recruit  the  starving  animals,  for  the  Mormons 
burned  all  the  grass  in  advance  of  the  arm}7.  There  was 
great  danger  that  the  entire  force  of  men,  horses,  and 


92  Tlie  Mormon  Delusion. 

cattle  would  suffer  death  before  they  could  get  relief,  and 
a  large  part  was,  indeed,  "wasted  away,"  according  to 
the  orders  of  Brigham.  One  government  supply-train 
near  the  Green  River  and  another  on  the  Sweetwater 
were  burned  by  the  Mormons,  and  many  of  the  cattle 
stampeded.  The  teamsters  and  wagon-masters,  who  were 
now  useless  to  the  army,  and  other  civilians  were  given  a 
supply  of  provisions,  and  started  back  homeward,  but 
nearly  all  perished  upon  the  plains  —  the  victims  of  cold, 
exposure,  and  Indians.  Soon  the  exhaustion  of  the  ani- 
mals in  the  slowly  advancing  army  was  such  that  their 
utmost  advance  was  only  three  miles  per  day.  The  pros- 
pect of  certain  and  fruitless  death  for  the  whole  force 
began  to  awaken  open  murmurings  among  the  helpless 
soldiers.  At  this  critical  time  their  new  commander  — 
Colonel  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  of  subsequent  fame  as  a 
general  in  the  Southern  army  of  the  Rebellion  —  reached 
the  army,  ordered  the  return  of  the  troops  to  Camp 
Scott,  near  the  site  of  Fort  Bridger,  for  winter  quarters, 
which  they  reached  November  16,  1857. 

The  snow  was  deep,  the  animals  weak  and  starving, 
and  the  retreating  army  required  fifteen  days  to  make  the 
last  thirty-five  miles  of  their  perilous  march.  Many  men, 
cattle,  and  mules  perished  in  the  cold.  The  road  was 
marked  with  the  dead  and  dying  animals.  On  the  Sweet- 
water fifty-seven  head  of  horses  and  mules  were  frozen 
in  one  night ;  on  the  night  of  the  sixth  of  November  five 
hundred  animals  died  around  the  camp,  which  was  named 
the  "  Camp  of  Death  ;  "  fifteen  oxen  froze  to  death  while 
crowding  together  in  one  bunch.  From  the  stampeded 
and  stolen  cattle,  the  Mormons  in  Salt  Lake  received 
eight  hundred  in  October  and  five  hundred  in  November, 
and  then  sang  one  of  their  most  popular  songs  :  — 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  93 

There  's  seven  hundred  wagons  on  the  way, 

Du  dah ! 
And  their  cattle  are  numerous,  so  they  say, 

Du  dah !     Du  dah  day ! 
Now,  to  let  the  in  perish  would  be  a  sin, 

Du  dah ! 
So  we  HI  take  all  they  've  got  for  bringing  them  in, 
Du  dah  !     Du  dah  day  ! 
Chorus.  — Then  let  us  be  on  hand, 

By  Brig-ham  Young  to  stand, 
And  if  our  enemies  do  appear 
We  '11  sweep  them  off  the  land.1 

The  sufferings  and  humiliations  of  our  soldiers  at  Camp 
Scott  during  that  winter  of  1857-58  were  extreme.  The 
settlers  who  could  reach  them  got  twelve  dollars  a  gallon 
for  their  whiskey,  three  dollars  a  pound  for  tobacco, 
sugar,  and  coffee  ;  while  the  Indians  got  five  dollars  a 
pound  for  their  salt.  Their  animals  were  too  weak  to 
work,  and  the  soldiers  themselves  had  to  haul  their  own 
wood  five  miles  by  hitching  themselves  in  spans  of  six- 
teen or  more  to  one  wagon.  When  the  United  States 
army  —  defeated,  stripped,  and  powerless  —  turned  its 
steps  backward,  the  Mormon  forces  went  home  to  their 
warm  valley  of  plenty,  and  there  was  great  rejoicing.  A 
"Welcome  to  the  returned  Warriors  of  Zion  "  was  sung, 
as  follows  :  — 

Strong  in  the  power  of  Brigham's  God, 

Your  name  's  a  terror  to  our  foes ; 
Ye  were  a  barrier  strong  and  broad 

As  our  high  mountains  crowned  with  snows. 

Fear  filled  the  myrmidons  of  war, 

Their  courage  fell  in  wordy  boast ; 

The  faith  and  prayers  of  Israel's  host 
Repelled  the  tyrant's  gory  car. 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,  p. 


94  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

"  The  orators  of  the  tabernacle  waxed  bold  and  spoke 
of  the  government  and  the  army  in  terms  of  supreme 
contempt.  A  questioning  voice  was  never  heard  ;  there 
was  one  current  of  unvarying  boast  of  independence  and 
victory  for  Israel,  and  of  defeat  and  disgrace  for  the 
nation.  For  years  previous,  the  people  had  been  taught 
to  look  forward  to  the  time  when  '  the  kingdom '  should 
throw  off  its  allegiance  to  all  earthly  power,  and  now 
they  naturally  concluded  that  '  the  long-expected,  blessed 
day '  had  arrived."  1 

The  sermons  in  the  Mormon  tabernacle  during  this 
winter  were  boastful  to  vulgarity.  They  declared  that 
the  army  at  Camp  Scott  was  so  weak  that  "  a  swarm  of 
long-billed  mosquitoes  could  eat  them  up  at  a  supper 
spell;"  and  one  speaker  declared  that  he  had  "wives 
enough  to  whip  the  United  States,"  and  another  said  that 
"  the  whole  United  States  and  the  whole  world  could  not 
prevail  against  the  Saints." 

A  correct  picture  of  the  utter  delusion  of  the  com- 
mon Mormon  people  at  this  time  (1857-58)  is  found 
in  the  following  extracts  from  a  letter  from  a  Mormon 
woman  in  Salt  Lake  City  to  her  children  in  Providence, 
Rhode  Island  :  — 

"  I  expect  you  have  heard  the  loud  talk  of  Uncle 
Sam's  great  big  army  coming  to  kill  the  Saints.  Now, 
if  you  did  but  know  how  the  Saints  rejoice  at  the  folly 
of  the  poor  Gentiles  !  There  are  about  four  thousand 
on  the  border  of  our  territory,  and  six  hundred  wagons, 
—  one  naked  mule  to  draw  them,  all  the  rest  having 
died.  The  men  are  sitting  in  the  snow,  about  a 
hundred  and  fifteen  miles  from  us,  living  on  three 
crackers  a  day  and  three  quarters  of  a  pound    of    beef 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,  p.  375. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  95 

a  week.  Thus  you  see  the  old  prophet's  words  are 
fulfilled  :  Whoever  shall  fight  against  Zion  shall  perish. 
The  time  has  come  when  the  Lord  has  called  all  the 
elders  home,  and  commanded  them  to  bind  up  the  law 
and  seal  the  testimony.  They  are  now  coming  home  as 
fast  as  possible.  What  comes  next?  The  judgment, 
hailstorm,  thunder,  lightning,  pestilence,  war ;  and 
they  that  will  not  take  up  the  sword  against  their 
neighbor  must  flee  to  Zion  for  safety.  Will  you  come, 
O  my  dear  children  ? "  l 

There  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  majority  of  the 
Mormon  people  have  from  that  day  believed  in  all  igno- 
rant sincerity  just  as  that  mother  believed  then ;  and  that 
they  still  believe  so,  and  do  not  doubt,  even  yet,  that, 
though  it  be  two  hundred  thousand  Mormons  against 
over  sixty-five  millions  of  people,  the  Mormons  will  yet 
be  victorious.  There  are  the  best  reasons  for  believing 
that  if  the  United  States  government  had,  in  1858,  —  as 
it  then  had  every  legal  and  moral  right  to  do,  —  punished 
the  Mormon  leaders  with  such  severity  that  most  of 
them  would  have  been  destroyed,  and  the  remainder 
made  to  supplicate  for  mercy,  then  the  Mormon  common 
people  would  have  had  the  scales  torn  from  their  eyes, 
and  the  shell  of  their  delusion  so  broken  that  Mormon- 
ism  would  now  have  been  a  thing  of  the  past. 

Although  such  a  course  would,  for  the  time  being, 
have  been  hard  for  the  leaders,  yet  it  would  have  saved 
many  thousands  of  women  and  children  and  of  deluded 
men  from  countless  sufferings  and  debasement.  The 
United  States  government  committed  a  grave  error  when 
it  compromised  its  honor  by  appointing  polygamous 
Mormons  to  hold  federal  offices  ;  and  when  it  refrained 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,  p.  379. 


96  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

from  visiting  upon  Brigham  Young  and  his  leading 
officers  in  open  rebellion  the  punishment  they  deserved, 
or  even  demanding  that  they  should  sue  for  peace,  or 
even  requiring  a  probation  of  true  loyalty,  the  govern- 
ment then  did  an  irreparable  wrong.  The  result  has 
been  —  the  rapid  growth  of  the  Mormon  tumor  and 
national  shame  through  forty  long  years. 

The  outcome  of  this  military  expedition  of  the  United 
States  to  its  rebellious  territory  was  that  in  the  spring 
of  1858  the  troops  escorted  the  new  governor,  Alfred 
dimming,  of  Georgia,  to  Salt  Lake  City,  marching 
through  the  Echo  Canon  and  the  streets  of  the  city  in 
peace.  Brigham  Young's  sober  second  thought  had  con- 
vinced him  of  the  utter  folly  of  resistance.  Neither 
Brigham  nor  his  people  was  punished,  and  President 
Buchanan  sent  special  commissioners  all  the  way  to 
Utah  to  bear  to  the  offenders  the  pardon  of  the  United 
States  !  Whether  our  government  also  sent  an  apology 
to  Brigham  for  attempting  to  protect  United  States 
officers,  or  whether  it  promised  never  to  do  so  again,  is 
not  stated. 

But  the  commissioners  of  an  unasked  pardon,  upon 
their  arrival  in  Salt  Lake  City  in  June  (1858),  found 
the  city  deserted.  Brigham  Young,  fearing  that  a  large 
army  would  visit  them  in  the  spring  with  such  punish- 
ment as  he  well  knew  they  deserved,  had  in  March 
announced  that  the  Mormons  were  to  evacuate  Salt  Lake 
City.  This  move  was  just  as  causeless  and  unreason- 
able as  had  been  his  ludicrous  bluster  and  military  atti- 
tude against  the  government  a  few  months  previous. 

"  Before  anything  was  learned  upon  which  to  base  a 
well-grounded  hope  of  a  peaceful  adjustment  of  the 
difficulty  between  Brigham  Young  and  the  government, 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  97 

'  counsel '  had  been  given  to  the  Saints  to  vacate  the 
city  and  to  move  southward.  Obedient  to  this  '  coun- 
sel,' the  people  gathered  all  that  they  could  take  with 
them  '  upon  wheels,'  and,  leaving  the  rest  of  their 
possessions  as  best  they  could,  prepared  for  another 
exodus. 

' '  Before  turning  the  key  to  the  outer  door  for  the  last 
time,  straw,  wood,  shavings,  and  everything  combustible 
was  massed  in  heaps  and  placed  throughout  the  houses, 
so  that  if  it  became  necessary  to  burn  the  city,  the  work 
of  destruction  would  be  so  speedily  executed  that  there 
would  remain  no  shelter  for  the  advancing  enemy  or 
their  camp-followers.  Less  than  a  score  of  men  were 
left  behind  to  apply  the  torch  and  repeat  upon  a  small 
scale  the  tragedy  of  Moscow,  should  it  become  neces- 
sary. 

"  The  governor  (Cumming)  followed  his  '  constituents  ' 
fifty  miles  south,  beseeching  them  to  turn  back,  and 
representing  to  them  that  there  was  no  danger  to  be 
apprehended  from  the  troops  ;  that  their  homes  would 
be  preserved,  and  that  they  would  be  unmolested  ;  but 
it  was  to  no  purpose.  As  well  say  to  the  tidal  wave  : 
'  Hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  but  no  further.'  The  governor 
and  the  peace  commissioners  spoke  in  vain.  The  power 
that  led  away  the  Mormons  from  their  firesides  alone 
could  send  them  back  again. 

"  At  Provo,  on  the  fifth  of  July,  Brigham  announced 
his  intention  to  return  to  Salt  Lake  City,  and  left  the 
people  to  do  as  they  pleased.  In  a  few  hours  afterwards 
the  greater  number  were  on  the  march  home.  Many  who 
had  exhausted  their  resources  in  going  south  were  unable 
to  return  immediately,  and  some  remained  permanently 
where  the  flight  had  landed  them. 


9o  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

"  In  this  memorable  flight  there  were  probably  no  less 
than  thirty  thousand  persons  on  '  the  move  south  '  from 
the  latter  part  of  March  till  the  beginning  of  August."1 


CHAPTER   V. 

MAKING    CONVERTS    IN    EUROPE.  ONE    WOMAN* S    LIFE    IN 

MORMONISM. 

SOME  years  ago  Mrs.  T.  B.  H.  Stenhouse  wrote  a 
book  entitled  "An  Englishwoman  in  Utah;  or, 
A  Life's  Experience  in  Mormonism."  For  twenty-five 
years  she  and  her  husband  were  devoted  Mormons,  he 
standing  very  high  in  the  counsels  of  the  church  and 
near  to  Brigham  Young,  and  she  suffering  the  trials  and 
degradation  which  polygamy  has  brought  upon  so  many 
families  in  Utah.  Both  husband  and  wife  were  far 
above  Mormons  generally  in  intelligence  and  character. 
He  was  an  exceptionally  able  preacher,  as  preaching 
goes  among  the  Mormons  ;  was  editor  of  a  paper  called 
The  Mormon  in  New  York  City,  and  afterwards  editor 
and  proprietor  of  The  Salt  Lake  City  Daily  Telegraph. 
They  experienced  nearly  all  the  phases  of  life  among  the 
Mormons,  except  those  of  abject  poverty.  Their  intelli- 
gence and  material  prosperity  kept  them  above  those 
experiences  which  the  large  majority  of  victims  to  Mor- 
monism have  passed  through.  They  were  reputable  peo- 
ple, born  and  reared  in  England  ;  he  went  as  foreign 
missionary    for   Mormonism  to  Italy,  and  both  went  to 

»  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,  pp.  394,  398,  399. 


The  Mormon  Delusion .  99 

Switzerland  ;  then  emigrated  to  Utah ;  there  went  into 
the  vileness  of  polygamy ;  saw  their  daughter  become 
the  fourth  wife  of  Brigham  Young's  oldest  son,  Joseph 
A.  Young.  Afterwards  they  experienced  the  efforts 
and  success  of  Brigham  Young  to  break  Mr.  Stenhouse 
down  in  business  ;  finally  they  opened  their  eyes  to  the 
delusions  and  enormities  in  which  they  had  lived,  left 
the  Mormon  Church,  and  experienced  the  most  shocking 
indignities  and  persecutions  therefor.  Afterwards,  not 
being  able  to  endure  the  constant  annoyances  to  which 
they  were  subjected  by  the  Saints  in  Salt  Lake  City, 
they  moved  to  California,  where  Mr.  Stenhouse  died. 
Mrs.  Stenhouse  returned  to  Salt  Lake  City,  where  her 
children  lived,  but  finding  it  very  unpleasant  there,  went 
back  in  her  old  age  to  dwell  among  the  scenes  of  her 
childhood  in  England,  where  she  was  still  living  in  1888. 

It  will  help  to  give  a  true  picture  of  Mormonism  — 
especially  its  better  phases  —  to  trace  the  actual  life  of 
this  husband  and  wife  through  all  their  varying  experi- 
ences in  Mormonism  during  twenty-five  years,  and  their 
observation  of  the  experiences  of  others.  That  this 
picture  may  be  as  life-like  as  possible  it  will  be  given,  so 
far  as  space  will  permit,  in  Mrs.  Stenhouse's  own  words. 
It  adds  to  the  value  of  her  testimony  that  it  is  entirely 
reliable.1 

She  lived  at  Southampton,  England,  and  in  her  early 
years  united  with  the  Baptist  church,  of  which  her  father 
and  mother  were  also  members.  While  still  quite  young, 
she  went  to  France,  where  she  remained  three  years  as 

1  All  the  quotations  from  Mrs.  Stenhouse  in  this  and  some  of  the  follow- 
ing-chapters are  from  her  book,  "An  English  Woman  in  Utah,"  by  Mrs. 
T.  B.  H.  Stenhouse,  published  by  Sampson  Low,  Marston  &  Co.,  Fleet 
Street,  London.  To  avoid  repeated  foot-notes,  this  general  acknowledg- 
ment is  here  made.  The  paragraphs  quoted  herein  have  first  been  greatly 
condensed. 


■I  00  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

governess  in  a  French  family  ;  there  she  became  engaged 
to  be  married  to  a  Frenchman  of  high  rank  and  ample 
fortune.  While  visiting  her  parents  during  a  vacation 
she  came  under  the  influence  of  Mormon  missionaries 
who  were  then  preaching  in  Southampton.  Her  parents 
had  already  embraced  Mor monism,  and  although  she  at 
first  denounced  it  as  a  delusion  and  declared  she  would 
never  become  a  believer,  she  finally  yielded  to  its  seduc- 
tions, joined  the  Mormon  Church,  and  was  sought  in 
marriage  by  the  Mormon  missionary  through  whose 
influence  she  had  been  converted,  Mr.  T.  B.  H.  Sten- 
house.  She  says:  "The  trial  of  my  profession  in  the 
new  faith  came  swiftly  to  my  door.  My  marriage  engage- 
ment must  be  broken  off.  I  was  brought  face  to  face 
with  the  fact  that  I  could  not  marry  out  of  the  Mormon 
Church.  Great  as  was  the  trial,  and  painful  as  was  the 
sacrifice,  I  resolved  to  be  true  to  my  religion." 

She  soon  married  Elder  Stenhouse,  and  says:  "I  was 
now  a  Mormon  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  although 
entirely  ignorant  of  Utah  politics  and  polygamy.  My 
dreams  were  of  a  life  of  happiness  spent  in  seeking  to 
convert  the  whole  world  to  the  religion  of  Jesus,  which  I 
believed  had  been  restored  again  to  earth  by  the  ministry 
of  holy  angels.  There  was  no  sacrifice  too  great  for  me 
to  make,  there  was  no  object  too  dear  for  me  to  resign, 
if  it  stood  in  the  way  of  my  sacred  calling.  Henceforth 
it  was  my  duty  to  be  entirely  forgetful  of  self  and  to 
devote  my  energies,  my  all,  to  the  advancement  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  My  life  was  to  be  identified  with  the 
Saints  ;  my  faith  required  it,  and  I  was  willing  that  it 
should  be  so." 

The  character  of  the  Mormon  meetings  held  in  England 
at  this  time  was  almost   wholly  different   from  Mormon 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  101 

meetings  held  in  Utah.  The  meetings  in  England  were 
characterized  by  most  earnest  preaching,  in  which  self- 
sacrifice  and  a  devotion  to  the  best  interests  of  the  king- 
dom of  Christ  were  strongly  urged  by  enthusiasm,  great 
rejoicing,  the  singing  of  inspiring  hymns,  and  testimony 
of  new  converts  who  were  full  of  zeal.  One  of  the 
hymns  with  which  the  meetings  were  apt  to  be  opened 
was  as  follows  :  — 

The  morning  breaks,  the  shadows  flee; 

Lo !  Zion's  standard  is  unfurled ! 
The  dawning  of  a  brighter  day 

Majestic  rises  on  the  world. 

The  clouds  of  error  disappear 

Before  the  rays  of  truth  divine ; 
The  glory  bursting  from  afar, 

Wide  o'er  the  nations  soon  will  shine. 

Angels  from  heaven  and  truth  from  earth 
Have  met,  and  both  have  record  borne; 

Thus  Zion's  light  is  bursting  forth 

To  bring  her  ransomed  children  home. 

Another  stanza  of  one  of  their  hymns  for  such  occa- 
sions is  the  following,  which  seldom  fails  to  produce  a 
marked  effect  upon  a  congregation  :  — 

The  Spirit  of  God  like  a  fire  is  burning ! 

The  latter  day  glory  begins  to  come  forth; 
The  visions  and  blessings  of  old  are  returning, 

The  angels  are  coming  to  visit  the  earth. 
We  '11  sing  and  we  '11  shout  with  the  armies  of  heaven, 

Hosannah !     Hosannah  to  God  and  the  Lamb ! 
All  glory  to  them  in  the  highest  be  given 

Henceforth  and  forever :     Amen,  and  Amen. 

v'The  congregation  sang  with  an  energy  and  enthusi- 
asm which  made  the  room  shake.     Self   and    the    outer 


102  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

world  were  alike  forgotten,  and  an  ecstasy  of  rapture 
seemed  to  possess  the  souls  of  all  present.  Then  all 
kneeled  down  and  prayer  was  offered  for  the  officers  of 
tin1  church,  blessings  were  invoked  upon  the  Saints  with 
power  to  convert  the  Gentiles,  and  as  the  earnest  words 
of  supplication  left  the  speaker's  lips  the  congregation 
shouted  a  loud  '  Amen.'  There  was  no  prepared  ser- 
mon (there  never  is  at  a  Mormon  meeting) .  The  people 
are  taught  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  '  mouth,  matter,  and 
wisdom.'  Whatever  the  preaching  elder  may  say  is  sup- 
posed to  come  directly  by  inspiration  from  heaven,  and 
the  Saints,  listening,  as  they  believe,  not  to  his  utterances 
but  to  the  words  of  God  himself,  have  nothing  to  do  but 
to  hear  and  obey.  In  the  evening  I  listened  to  a  lecture 
from  the  missionary  upon  the  character,  spirit,  and 
genius  of  the  new  church.  I  was  captivated  by  the 
picture  which  he  drew  of  the  marvelous  latter  day  work 
which  he  affirmed  had  already  begun.  The  visions  of 
bygone  days  were  again  vouchsafed  to  men  ;  angels  had 
visibly  descended  to  earth ;  God  had  raised  up  in  a 
mighty  way  a  prophet  as  of  old  to  preach  the  dispen- 
sation of  the  last  days  ;  gifts  of  prophecy,  healing,  and 
the  working  of  miracles  were  now,  as  in  the  days  of  the 
apostles,  witnesses  to  the  power  of  God ;  the  long-lost 
tribes  of  Israel  were  about  to  be  gathered  into  the  one 
great  fold  of  Christ,  and  the  fullness  of  the  Gentiles 
being  come,  they  too  were  to  be  taken  under  the  care  of 
the  Good  Shepherd.  All  were  freely  invited  to  come  and 
cast  away  their  sins  ere  it  was  too  late,  and  the  fullest 
offers  of  pardon,  grace,  sanctification,  and  blessing  in 
this  world  and  the  next  were  presented  to  every  repentant 
soul. 

'-Surely,  thought  I,  these  are  the  self -same  doctrines 


TJie  Mormon  Delusion.  103 

which  my  mother  taught  me  when  I  knelt  beside  her  in 
childhood  and  which  I  have  so  often  heard  urged  from 
pulpits.  Who  can  wonder  that  I  listened  with  rapt 
attention  and  that  my  heart  was  even  then  half -won  to 
the  new  faith? 

"  The  Mormons  in  England  were  then  simple  and 
earnest  religious  people,  in  many  respects  like  the 
Methodists  —  especially  in  missionary  zeal  and  fervor  of 
spirit.  The  missionary  had  come  to  Southampton  with- 
out purse  or  scrip.  He  was  quite  a  young  man  and 
almost  penniless,  but  he  was  rich  in  faith  and  overflowing 
with  zeal.  He  knew  no  one  there,  and,  homeless  and  fre- 
quently hungry,  he  continued  his  labors.  Of  fasting  he 
knew  much,  of  feasting  nothing.  He  first  preached 
under  the  branches  of  a  spreading  beech-tree  in  a  pub- 
lic park,  and  when  more  favored  he  held  forth  in  a 
school-room  or  public  hall.  He  had  come  to  convert 
the  people  to  Mormonism  or  he  was  going  to  die 
among  them,  and  before  such  zeal  and  determination 
discouragements,  of  course,  soon  vanished  away.  Mor- 
monism was  bold  then  in  Europe.  It  had  no  Amer- 
ican history  to  meet  in  those  days.  The  reader  must 
remember  that  at  that  time  polygamy  was  unheard  of  as 
a  doctrine  of  the  Saints,  and  the  blood  atonement,  the 
doctrine  that  Adam  is  God,  together  with  the  polytheism 
and  priestly  theocracy  of  after  years,  were  things 
undreamed  of.  The  saving  love  of  Christ,  the  glory 
and  fullness  of  the  everlasting  Gospel,  the  gifts  and 
graces  of  the  Spirit,  together  with  repentance,  baptism, 
and  faith,  were  the  points  upon  which  the  Mormon  teach- 
ers touched.  Who  can  wonder  that  with  such  topics  as 
these,  and  by  fortifying  every  statement  with  numerous 
and  powerful  texts  of  Scripture,  they  should  captivate 
the  minds  of  religiously  inclined  people  ? " 


104  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Four  months  after  Mrs.  Stenhouse's  marriage,  her  young 
husband  was  sent  as  a  missionary  to  Italy,  she  remaining 
in  England.  No  provision  was  made  for  her  support ;  she 
was  merely  committed  to  the  care  of  the  Saints.  She 
suffered  greatly  even  for  the  commonest  necessities  of 
life,  for  weeks  not  enjoying  even  a  cup  of  tea  and  living 
upon  bread  only,  but  believing  most  thoroughly  in  her 
religion  and  rejoicing  that  her  husband  could  be  a  foreign 
missionary,  and  that  in  thus  suffering  she  was  sharing 
somewhat  in  the  missionary  sacrifice.  She  did  not  let 
her  husband  or  her  parents  know  of  her  destitution. 

kt  I  was  in  extreme  poverty  certainly,"  she  says,  "  but 
for  myself  I  was  not  in  trouble.  God  would  provide  for 
me,  I  felt,  and  it  was  glorious  to  suffer  in  a  sacred  cause. 
But  darker  days,  days  of  severer  trial,  were  creeping 
slowly  near  me.  Up  to  this  time  I  had  worshiped  God  and 
loved  my  husband  with  a  perfect  heart.  Now  the  dark 
shadow  of  an  accursed  thing  was  looming  in  the  distance, 
and  approaching  surely,  if  slowly. 

"  In  some  way  an  idea  had  got  abroad  that  the 
Mormons  were  unsound  respecting  the  marriage  ques- 
tion. Still  the  elders  stoutly  denied  the  charge,  and 
the  more  they  were  accused  the  more  strenuous  became 
their  denials. 

tlAt  a  public  discussion  in  France,  the  Mormon 
apostle,  John  Taylor,  in  reply  to  such  accusations, 
denied  them  most  strenuously,  and  quoted  many  pas- 
sages of  Scripture,  and  from  the  Mormon  book,  Doc- 
trines and  Covenants,  each  quotation  powerful  to  put 
aside  even  the  idea  of  polygamy  ;  and  each  powerful  as 
an  argument  against  polygamy  itself. 

"  Let  the  reader  here  note  the  value  of  what  Mormons 
say  when  their  faith  is  called  in  question  :  Brother  Taylor, 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  lOo 

who  spoke  at  that  meeting  and  utterly  denied  polygamy, 
at  that  very  moment  when  he  so  atrociously  perjured 
himself,  and  when  he  swore  that  no  Mormon  had  more 
than  one  wife,  himself  had  Jive  wives  living  in  Salt  Lake 
City  !  One  of  his  companion  missionaries  there  present 
had  two  wives  ;  and  the  other  was  married  to  a  mother 
and  her  own  daughter  ! 

"  It  became  very  common  for  the  Mormon  elders  to 
discuss  in  visiting  circles  the  apostasy  of  the  Christian 
Church  from  the  true  order  of  God's  salvation,  and  prom- 
inence would  be  given  to  the  history  of  Abraham  and  his 
descendants,  and  occasional  allusion  would  be  made  to 
their  marital  relations.  It  was  very  evident  that  these 
elders  only  wanted  to  drop  a  word  or  two  here  and  there 
to  suit  those  who  wanted  it,  but  yet  spoke  obscurely  and 
mysteriously,  unwilling  openly  to  avow.  It  became  very 
clear  to  me  that  some  of  the  elders  were  polygamists  "at 
heart.  The  more  my  mind  dwelt  on  these  things,  the 
more  sick  at  heart  did  I  become.  Sometimes  I  would  sit 
alone  and  think  of  the  whisperings  of  that  accursed  doc- 
trine which  has  since  brought  desolation  and  anguish  to 
the  hearts  of  so  many,  many  women  ;  think  of  my  future 
life,  dark  as  its  promise  even  then  appeared. 

"  Sometimes  I  heard  from  Italy  how  my  husband  Was 
progressing  with  his  work  there,  and  with  wifely  love  I 
sympathized  with  him  in  all  his  difficulties,  for  he  told  me 
how  arduous  the  task  was  in  which  he  was  engaged. 

"  It  was  not  the  expectation  of  the  Mormon  apostles 
that  the  missionaries  would  do  much  in  Catholic  Italy. 
The  same  causes  were  in  operation  there  as  affected  the 
work  in  France.  Few,  if  any,  really  good  Roman  Cath- 
olics have  ever  joined  the  Saints.  The  Irish  mission  was 
never  successful,  and  the  same  mav  be  said  of  the  French 


106  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

and  Italian  missions.  In  France  and  Italy  by  far  the 
greater  part  of  the  people  might  be  classed  under  two 
heads,  Roman  Catholics  and  infidels.  The  first  had 
already  an  infallible  guide  in  which  they  trusted,  and 
as  for  the  infidels,  they  ridiculed  the  idea  of  any  guide  at 
all.  Both  classes  were  utterly  devoid  of  that  acquaint- 
ance with  Scripture  of  which  the  Mormon  missionaries 
understood  so  well  how  to  take  advantage,  and  which 
rendered  those  so  susceptible  to  religious  influences  who 
took  the  Bible  as  their  basis.  The  missionaries  in  Italy 
soon  experienced  the  difficulties  presented  by  these  facts. 

"For  many  years  it  had  been  supposed  among  the 
Saints  that  the  '  gift  of  tongues  '  would  be  all-sufficient 
for  missionaries,  and  that  they  would  not  have  to  acquire 
foreign  languages,  and  the  apostles  had  eloquently  dis- 
cussed the  subject  in  print ;  but  the  missionaries  soon 
discovered  by  experience  in  foreign  lands  that  this  '  gift ' 
was  not  of  much  service  for  practical  purposes,  and  that 
they  must  '  acquire  '  the  languages  for  themselves.  A 
letter  from  my  husband,  now  in  Switzerland,  told  how 
he  had  shut  himself  up  in  his  room  for  a  whole  winter 
poring  over  a  French  grammar,  and  deploring  his  hard 
fate  in  being-  denied  '  the  gift  of  tongues.' 

u  Soon  after  this  my  husband  returned  to  England,  and 
we  attended  a  general  conference  of  the  Mormons  in 
Great  Britain  held  in  London.  We  had  preaching  and 
prayers.  The  business  occupied  but  very  few  minutes, 
for  no  measure  was  questioned.  Among  the  Mormons 
there  are  no  opinions,  no  discussions.  The  presiding  head 
has  made  out  his  program  before  he  comes  to  the  confer- 
ence, and  no  one  ever  questions  him.  He  may,  for 
form's  sake,  invite  the  brethren  to  speak  on  any  point 
he  introduces  ;  but  when  lie  has  furnished  the  clew  to  his 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  107 

wishes,  the  elders  who  speak  only  spend  their  time  in 
favoring  his  measures. 

"  Mormonism  was  then  most  successfully  preached  in 
Great  Britain.  There  were  more  Mormons  there  than  in 
all  of  Utah  Territory.  There  were  fifty  conferences, 
over  seven  hundred  organized  '  branches,'  and  more  than 
six  thousand  men  ordained  to  the  priesthood. 

"During  all  that  conference  (June,  1851),  I  listened 
carefully  for  a  word  from  the  lips  of  any  of  the  speakers 
which  might  indicate  in  any  way  that  polygamy  was  a 
part  of  the  Mormon  faith ;  but  not  a  whisper,  not  a  hint, 
was  uttered.  Still  I  could  not  altogether  banish  my 
apprehension  of  coming  evil ;  but  so  bound  to  secrecy 
were  those  who  did  know  of  polygamy  being  practiced  in 
Utah  that  there  was  not  one  who  would  admit  it,  and  even 
my  own  husband's  lips  were  sealed  to  me.  He  did  not 
deny  it,  but  he  would  not  talk  about  it." 

Afterwards  Mr.  Stenhouse  returned  to  her  and  they 
were  both  sent  on  a  mission  to  Switzerland,  settlins; 
first  at  Geneva,  and  afterwards  in  Lausanne.  There 
they  suffered  together  even  more  bitterly  than  she  had 
suffered  alone  in  Eugland.  They  had  one  child  at  this 
time,  and  were  reduced  to  such  poverty  that  days  together 
passed  in  cold  and  hunger  without  anything  more  than 
bread  to  eat.  "I  can  even  recall  to  mind,"  she  says,  "  oue 
trying  week  in  Switzerland,  when  for  the  whole  seven 
days  we  had  less  than  a  pint  of  corn  flour  to  live  upon, 
and  that  was  chiefly  reserved  for  our  poor  child."  So 
high-spirited  was  she  that  their  landlady,  who  lived  in 
another  part  of  the  house,  was  all  this  time  ignorant  of 
their  suffering ;  for  Mrs.  Stenhouse,  so  long  as  she  was 
able  to  walk  about,  would  go  to  the  kitchen  at  regular 
hours,  get  out  the  cooking  utensils,  and  go  through  the 


108  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

routine  of  cooking  as  though  she  had  a  well-filled  larder 
all  the  time,  in  order  that  the  good  widow  landlady  might 
not  suspect  that  they  were  in  want. 

But  their  faith  in  Mormonism  and  their  devotion  to 
missionary  service  was  such  that  they  bore  these  trials 
without  complaint. 

Mr.  Stenhouse  first  attempted  the  conversion  of  the 
shoemaker  beside  whose  bench  he  would  sit  and  read 
from  a  French  Testament  and  interweave  discourses 
about  the  new  religion.  Next  he  plied  the  tailor  with 
his  persuasions,  then  four  or  five  of  the  neighbors  were 
persuaded  to  gather  in  meetings  at  his  house,  where  most 
that  was  done  was  to  read  the  Bible  and  expound  it  in 
the  interests  of  the  new  faith.  The  women  were  not 
allowed  to  speak  in  Mormon  meetings,  but  after  the 
meeting  closed  Mrs.  Stenhouse  began  her  work  as  a 
missionary,  which  proved  far  more  effective  than  that 
of  her  husband,  owing  to  her  knowledge  of  the  French 
language  and  her  unusual  abilities. 

"At  Lausanne  we  resided  in  a  part  of  the  house  of 
Monsieur  Balif,  who  had  become  a  convert  to  Mor- 
monism. After  I  had  been  in  their  house  a  few  weeks 
Madame  Balif  was  baptized  into  the  faith.  She  impressed 
me  as  being  one  of  the  happiest  of  wives,  and  he  one  of 
the  best  of  husbands.  But  she  was  never  satisfied  with 
Mormonism.  Poor  dear  lady  !  how  often  have  I  bitterly 
regretted  that  I  was  instrumental  in  leading  her  into  the 
Mormon  Church,  in  which  (years  later,  in  Utah)  she 
endured  such  cruel  humiliation  and  martyrdom  !  " 

At  this  time  Mrs.  Stenhouse  received  a  letter  from 
England  from  a  dear  friend,  Mary  Burton,  whom  she 
describes  as  a  mere  child,  not  yet  fifteen,  a  sweet  and 
gentle   girl    of    rare    beauty.       The    letter    narrated    the 


TJie  Mormon  Delusion.  109 

unseemly  intimacy  of  married  Mormon  elders  with  their 
unmarried  female  converts  and  their  hints  at  polygamy 
as  a  possibility,  and  closes  thus  :  — 

With  all  my  faith,  I  am  very  much  troubled  about  these 
things.  Sister  Stenhouse,  is  this  the  Mormonism  the  elders 
used  to  teach  us?  Perhaps,  after  all,  I  am  wrong,  aud  ought 
to  see  things  in  a  different  light.  For  have  not  the  elders  and 
apostles  positively  denied  that  polygamy,  or  any  other  sin,  was 
practiced  in  Utah,  or  formed  any  part  of  the  Mormon  religion? 
And  we  know  that  these  men  of  God  would  not  deceive  us. 

With  fondest  love,  remember  your  own 

Mary  Burton. 

"I  read  this  letter  through  carefully.  It  brought  a 
sad  confirmation  of  all  my  fears.  After  three  months' 
absence  Mr.  Stenhouse  returned  to  Lausanne,  and  there 
were  a  number  of  new  converts  to  be  baptized.  I  was 
now  more  than  ever  anxious  about  polygamy.  It  had 
become  the  haunting  specter  of  my  existence,  and  I 
dreaded  what  any  day  might  bring  forth.  The  news 
which  my  husband  brought  with  him  was  by  no  means 
re-assuring.  He  had  heard  in  England  from  the  Ameri- 
can elders  that  there  was  a  general  expectation  among 
the  Saints  in  Utah  that  at  the  October  conference  in 
Salt  Lake  City  Brigham  Young  would  publish  to  the 
world  that  polygamy  was  a  doctrine  of  the  Mormon 
Church. 

"  As  this  truth  became  clearer  to  my  mind,  I  thought 
I  should  lose  my  senses.  The  very  foundations  of  my 
faith  were  shaken  with  repugnance  to  the  unholy  doctrine, 
but  I  also  began  to  realize  that  the  men  whom  I  had 
regarded  as  the  representatives  of  God  were  guilty  of 
deliberate  and  unblushing  falsehood.  Might  they  not 
also  be  guilty  of   deception   on   other   points?      Whom 


110  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

could  I  trust  now  ?  For  ten  years  the  Mormon  prophets 
and  apostles  had  been  living  in  polygamy  at  home,  while 
abroad  they  vehemently  denied  it  and  spoke  of  it  as  a 
deadly  sin.  This  was  a  painful  awakening  for  me.  We 
had  all  of  us  been  betrayed.  I  lost  confidence  in  man 
and  almost  began  to  question  whether  I  could  even  trust 
in  God. 

"  My  husband  assured  me  that  he  had  as  great 
repugnance  for  the  doctrine  as  I  had.  The  London 
elder,  of  whose  flirtation  in  Southampton  I  have  already 
spoken,  was  then  in  Switzerland,  and  he  now  confirmed 
my  fears.  He  said  that  I  and  those  like  me  were  '  babes,' 
to  whom  only  milk  must  be  given.  My  husband  enjoined 
me  not  to  speak  a  word  of  what  1  had  heard.  I  felt  little 
inclination  to  do  so  —  my  heart  was  too  full.  What  could 
I  now  look  forward  to  ?  My  pleasant  dreams  and  hopes 
in  life  were  ended.  Still,  the  'revelation'  sanctioning 
a  change  in  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  the  church 
was  not  yet  published;  and  until  polygamy  was  openly 
avowed,  I  felt  that  the  doom  of  my  happiness  was  not 
yet  sealed,  and  like  many  another  heart-broken  woman, 
I  hoped  against  hope. 

"  Time  flew  by,  and  at  length  the  dreaded  '  revelation' 
came.  Eeturning  from  the  post-office  my  husband  handed 
me  The  Millennial  Star,  a  Mormon  paper  published  at 
Liverpool,  '  containing  the  revelation,'  he  said.  As  1 
took  it  I  felt  as  if  I  was  receiving  my  death-warrant. 
It  was  indeed  the  death-warrant  to  all  my  hopes.  I 
rose  from  the  breakfast  table,  asking  them  to  excuse 
me,  and  overcome  with  agitation  and  conflicting  emo- 
tions, I  retired  to  my  own  chamber.  There  for  the  first 
time  I  read  that  document  which  has  since  brought 
so   much   sorrow  and   misery   to   so   many   wronged  and 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  Ill 

heart-broken  women.  The  reader  may  perhaps  like  to 
see  the  only  formulation  and  authority  for  the  practice 
of  polygamy  ever  produced  by  the  Mormon  leaders  ;  so 
I  copy  here  the  essential  parts  of  this   '  revelation ' :  — 

Celestial  Marriage!  A  revelation  on  the  patriarchal 
order  of  matrimony,  or  plurality  of  wives,  given  to  Joseph 
Smith,  the  Seer,  at  Nauvoo,  July  12,  1843.  .  .  . 

Prepare  thy  heart  to  receive  and  obey  the  instructions 
which  I  am  about  to  give  unto  you;  for  all  those  which  have 
this  law  revealed  unto  them  must  obey  the  same ;  for  behold ! 
1  reveal  unto  you  a  new  and  everlasting  covenant,  and  if  ye 
abide  not  that  covenant,  then  are  ye  damned ;  for  no  one  can 
reject  this  covenant,  and  be  permitted  to  enter  into  my  glory ; 
for  all  who  will  have  a  blessing  at  mjr  hands  shall  abide  the 
law  which  was  appointed  for  that  blessing  and  the  conditions 
thereof,  as  was  instituted  from  before  the  foundations  of  the 
world :  and  as  pertaining  to  the  new  and  everlasting  covenant, 
it  was  instituted  for  the  fullness  of  my  glory ;  and  he  that 
receiveth  a  fullness  thereof  must  and  shall  abide  the  law,  or 
he  shall  be  damn*  d,  saith  the  Lord  God.  .  .  . 

16.  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  I  gave  unto  thee,  my 
servant  Joseph,  an  appointment,  and  restore  all  things.  ...  I 
have  conferred  upon  you  the  keys  and  power  of  the  priest- 
hood, wherein  I  restore  all  things,  and  make  known  unto  you 
all  things  in  due  time.  .  .  . 

20.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  a  commandment  I  give  unto 
mine  handmaid  Emma  Smith,  your  wife  ...  let  mine  hand- 
maid Emma  Smith  receive  all  those  that  have  been  given  unto 
my  servant  Joseph  Smith ;  .  .  . 

21.  And  I  command  mine  handmaid  Emma  Smith  to 
abide  and  cleave  unto  my  servant  Joseph,  and  to  none  else. 
But  if  she  will  not  abide  this  commandment,  she  shall  be 
destroyed,  saith  the  Lord ;  for  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  will 
destroy  her  if  she  abide  not  in  my  law.  .  .  . 

24.  And  again,  as  pertaining  to  the  law  of  the  priesthood : 
If  any  man  espouse  a  virgin,  and  desire  to  espouse  another, 
and  the  first  give  her  consent  5  and  if  he  espouse  the  second, 


112  Tlie  Mormon  Delusion. 

and  the}'  are  virgins,  and  have  vowed  to  no  other  man,  then  is 
ho  justified.  He  can  not  commit  adultery,  for  they  are  given 
him;  for  he  can  not  commit  adultery  with  that  that  belongeth 
unto  him,  and  to  none  else;  and  if  he  have  ten  virgins  given 
unto  him  by  this  law.  he  can  not  commit  adultery,  for  they 
belong  to  him;  and  they  are  given  unto  him  —  therefore  is  he 
justified. 

25.  And  again,  verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  30U,  if  any  man 
has  a  wife  who  holds  the  keys  of  this  power,  and  he  teaches 
unto  her  the  law  of  my  priesthood,  as  pertaining  to  these 
things,  then  shall  she  believe  and  administer  unto  him,  or  she 
shall  be  destined,  saith  the  Lord  your  God :  for  I  will  destroy 
hr.  .  .  . 

t;  The  'revelation'  roused  within  me  feelings  of  horror 
and  dismay,  but  I  did  not  dare  to  question  its  authenticity. 
It  brought  bitterness  to  my  soul,  but  I  believed  it  was  from 
God,  and  that  I  must  learn  to  bear  the  cross  patiently. 
I  did  not  at  that  time  read  the  document  through  from 
beginning  to  end.  No  ;  my  indignation  was  such  that 
before  I  had  read  half  of  it  I  threw  it  from  me  in  anger. 
1  felt  bitterly  that  this  new  doctrine  was  a  degradation  to 
woman,  and  I  wondered  why  G-od  should  see  fit  to  humil- 
iate my  sex  in  this  way.  I  was  willing  to  devote  myself, 
my  life,  my  all  to  His  service,  but  wherefore  should  He 
doom  me  to  everlasting  sorrow?  What  now  was  to  be  a 
woman's  lot  among  the  Mormons  ?  A  life  without  hope  ! 
Hereafter  our  hearts  were  to  be  daily  and  hourly  tram- 
pled upon  ;  the  most  sacred  feelings  of  our  sex  were  to 
be  outraged  ;  our  affections  were  to  be  crushed.  Hence- 
forth we  were  to  be  nothing  by  ourselves  ;  without  a  hus- 
band, we  were  told,  we  could  not  even  enter  heaven  ! 
But  death  was  to  bring  no  hope  to  us  ;  we  were  told  that 
in  the  other  world  polygamy  should  be  the  only  order  of 
marriage,  and   that   without  it  none  could  be  exalted  in 


TJie  Mormon  Dehisi 07i.  113 

glory.  We  were  told  these  things  by  men  whom  we 
believed  were  true  and  holy  men  of  God  ;  and  we  trusted 
in  them. 

"  Rebellious  I  felt,  indeed,  as  I  paced  the  room  after  I 
had  thrown  the  '  revelation  '  on  the  ground  :  I  almost  felt 
as  if  I  should  lose  my  reason.  I  had  neither  relation  nor 
friend  to  whom  I  could  speak  of  this  trial ;  there  was  no 
one  who  could  understand  me.  I  could  not  turn  to  my 
husband  in  this  sorrow,  and  I  dared  not  even  kneel  to  my 
God  to  implore  His  aid.  It  was  He,  they  said,  who  had 
declared  that  this  '  revelation '  was  His  will ;  how,  then, 
could  I  turn  to  Him  ?  No ;  my  heart  sank  within  me ; 
henceforth  there  was  to  be  no  hope,  no  peace  for  me  ! 

"  There  was  a  knock  at  my  chamber  door,  and  my  hus- 
band came  in.  He  knew  how  acutely  I  must  feel,  and  he 
came  to  comfort  me.  I  was  almost  choked  with  emotion 
and  tears,  but  he  threw  his  arms  around  me  tenderly  and 
spoke  to  me  as  if  I  had  been  a  child  that  needed  conso- 
lation. He  tried  to  persuade  me  that  God,  as  a  loving 
Father,  could  never  have  intended  the  pain  or  misery  of 
his  children,  and  that  when  we  came  to  understand  the 
doctrine  better,  we  should  find  that  all  would  be  well. 
He  spoke  also  of  his  own  unchanging  attachment,  and 
appealed  to  me  whether  I  thought  he  could  ever  love  me 
less,  or  place  his  affections  on  another.  I  tried  to  believe, 
and  when  I  felt  a  little  better  I  went  with  him  to  the 
breakfast  room,  where  the  others  were  waiting  for  us. 

"  I  now  entered  upon  a  new  phase  of  my  missionary 
life.  The  elders  assured  me  that  it  was  my  duty  to  teach 
polygamy  to  the  women  of  Switzerland.  How  I  strove 
against  my  rebellious  nature !  How  I  battled  with 
myself!  My  heart  must  be  subdued.  I  tried  to  reason 
with  myself,  and  to  persuade  myself  that  it  was  I  who 


114  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

was  to  blame  and  not  the  '  revelation,'  and  I  must  not 
refuse  the  cross  that  he  called  upon  me  to  bear.  Ere  I 
slept  at  night  one  dreadful  thought  was  haunting  my 
pillow  ;  it  disturbed  my  very  dreams,  and  when  I  awoke 
in  the  morning,  it  was  with  a  feverish  apprehension  of 
coming  evil  hanging  over  me.  All  through  the  long, 
weary  day  it  haunted  my  footsteps  like  a  specter ;  and 
like  a  fearful  blight  that  had  fallen  upon  me,  it  seemed 
to  be  withering  my  soul.  One  thought  was  ever  present 
in  my  mind — that  thought,  polygamy!  Over  my  little 
daughter  Clara  I  mourned,  for  I  thought  if  this  '  revela- 
tion' were  acted  upon  by  the  Saints,  as  doubtless  it 
would  be,  she  would  some  day  be  called  upon  to  suffer  as 
I  did.  How  little  did  I  then,  however,  anticipate  in  what 
way  my  fears  would  be  realized !  My  Clara  became 
the  daughter-in-law  of  Brigham  Young,  having  married 
his  eldest  son,  Joseph  A.  Young,  becoming  his  fourth 
wife. 

"  My  husband  and  the  elders  had  anticipated  that  I 
would  not  readily  submit,  and  they  bore  with  me 
as  patiently  as  they  could,  losing  no  opportunity  of 
strengthening  me  in  the  faith,  ever  keeping  before  me 
the  obligation  that  rested  upon  me  in  particular  to 
explain  the  doctrine  to  the  Swiss  sisters.  Among  the 
Swiss  we  had  never  spoken  on  polygamy.  My  husband 
did  not  at  once  openly  tell  that  such  a  '  revelation  '  had 
been  sent  from  Zion  ;  but  whenever  an  opportunity  pre- 
sented he  took  them  aside  singly,  and  spoke  to  them 
about  the  ancient  patriarchs  who  practiced  polygamy  ; 
...  he  soon  won  them  over  to  the  new  teaching. 

"  After  many  days  and  nights  of  prayer  and  fasting  I 
prepared  myself  for  my  work.  To  a  certain  extent  I 
had  brought  my  own  self  under  control  —  or  I  thought 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  115 

I  had  ;  and  I  almost  felt  anxious  to  begin,  so  that  I 
might  get  over  the  painful  scenes  which  I  fully  antici- 
pated. It  was  agreed  that  Madame  Balif  should  be  the 
first  to  whom  the  intelligence  should  be  imparted,  for  it 
was  thought  that  if  she  accepted  this  '  revelation '  without 
much  difficulty,  the  other  sisters  would  be  more  easily 
won  over.  As  I  before  mentioned,  Madame  Balif  and 
her  husband  were  models  of  affection  to  one  another,  and 
it  seemed  to  me  quite  a  sin  that  I  should  introduce  into 
such  a  household  a  doctrine  which  could  only  produce 
disunion  and  misery.  I  was  chosen  to  introduce  this 
pleasant  subject,  and  to  persuade  those  I  loved  to  their 
own  ruin.  It  is  miserable  work  to  try  to  convince  others 
of  a  thing  you  yourself  detest.  One  day,  quite  unex- 
pectedly to  her,  they  had  told  Madame  Balif  that  a  new 
'revelation'  had  been  sent  from  Zion,  and  that  I  would 
explain  it  to  her  ;  then  Monsieur  Balif  left  the  house, 
and  remained  absent  until  the  wife  whom  he  so  devotedly 
loved  should  have  heard  this  new  thing.  Madame  Balif 
came  downstairs  singing,  in  her  usual  gay  spirits,  little 
expecting  what  she  was  going  to  hear ;  and  when  she 
came  to  me  I  felt  so  unfitted  for  my  task  that  I  dared 
not  look  her  straight  in  the  face,  although  she  was  my 
dearest  friend  and  I  had  such  an  affection  for  her.  I 
stood  there,  pale  and  trembling,  and  she  thought  that 
I  was  not  well.  I  was  not,  indeed,  well ;  I  was  sick  at 
heart.  Never  before  had  the  face  of  a  friend  been  so  un- 
welcome. She  asked  me  what  it  was  that  I  had  to  tell  her, 
and  when  I  hesitatingly  denied  having  wanted  to  speak 
to  her  at  all,  she  said  she  knew  there  must  be  something, 
as  her  husband  had  told  her  so.  I  hesitated  still ;  but 
at  last  found  courage,  and  told  her  all.  It  was  a  cruel 
task  to  impose  upon  me.     She  sat  and  listened  eagerly  as 


116  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

I  told  my  story  ;  and  when  at  length  she  began  to  under- 
stand what  was  meant  by  it,  she  thought  that  I  must  be 
playing  some  unseasonable  joke  upon  her,  and  showed 
as  much  in  her  countenance.  But  when  she  saw  that  I 
really  was  in  earnest,  she  sprang  up  and  cried  out,  '  Oh, 
my  God  !  what  a  beastly  religion  !  How  dared  your  hus- 
band and  you  come  to  us  Swiss  with  such  a  religion  as 
that  ? '  My  eyes  sank  before  her  as  she  turned  on  me 
with  mingled  rage  and  disgust,  as  if  she  would  wither 
me  with  her  contemptuous  looks.  I  felt  as  humbled  as  if 
I  myself  had  been  the  author  of  the  '  revelation.' 

"  'And  does  my  Serge  believe  this?'  she  cried.  I 
assured  her  that  he  did  believe  it,  and  she  paced  the 
room  to  and  fro  as  if  she  would  go  crazy ;  my  heart 
ached  for  her.  She  gave  way  to  a  perfect  storm  of 
rage,  and  then  sobbed  and  cried  like  a  child  who  has 
lost  its  mother.  I  was  silent,  for  I  knew  how  she  must 
feel,  and  I  felt  that  she  would  be  relieved  by  tears.  I 
had  gone  through  the  trial  all  alone,  without  one  word 
from  a  woman's  heart  that  could  reach  my  own  ;  and  I 
tried  to  comfort  her.  I  remembered  how  I  had  felt 
myself,  and  I  believed  that  thus  it  was  now  with  her. 
In  an  instant,  when  I  first  realized  that  polygamy  had 
anything  to  do  with  me,  just  as  I  have  heard  it  said  of 
dying  men,  all  my  past  life  rushed  to  my  remembrance, 
and  every  word  or  deed  of  love  therein  stood  out  in 
brightest  reality.  Thus  I  doubted  not  that  it  was  with 
my  friend.  Every  tender  word  which  her  husband  had 
ever  uttered,  every  loving  deed  he  had  ever  done,  came 
to  her  recollection  with  a  tenfold  clearness  as  she  realized 
the  horrors  which  awaited  her  in  the  future.  I  tried  to 
soothe  her,  and  she  threw  her  arms  passionately  around 
me  and   pressed    me   to  her  throbbing  heart,   and  wept 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  117 

again.  She  thought  of  her  husband  and  her  little  girls. 
But  with  all  her  fears  she  dreamed  not  how  miserable 
was  the  life  before  her  in  poverty  and  polygamy.  She 
was  herself  handsome  in  form  and  fair  in  feature,  and, 
in  the  full  enjoyment  of  all  that  could  be  desired  in 
her  sphere  of  life  ;  she  was  as  happy  as  a  }Touthful  wife 
could  be.  She  pictured  to  herself  a  time  —  not  now,  her 
Serge  loved  her  too  truly  now  —  when  her  husband 
might  cast  his  eyes  upon  some  blooming  damsel,  younger 
than  she  was  then,  and  might  begin  to  take  nearer 
interest  in  polygamy.  She  pictured  him  bestowing  on 
the  youthful  beauty  the  love  and  tenderness  which  he  had 
always  bestowed  on  her;  how  his  affections  would  die 
out  towards  her ;  how  her  heart  would  be  desolate  and 
alone  !  I  took  her  hand  in  mine  and  spoke  very  gently 
to  her ;  and  when  she  was  calmer,  I  talked  to  her  more 
freely.  We  found  now,  as  we  tried  to  look  our  common 
enemy  in  the  face,  how  strong  a  hold  Mormonism  had 
taken  of  us  ;  and  it  is  in  this  that  persons  unacquainted 
with  the  Saints  have  so  greatly  misjudged  the  women  of 
Utah  ;  they  know  how  small  a  hold  such  a  religion  —  now 
that  they  look  upon  Mormonism  and  polygamy  as  identi- 
cal —  would  have  upon  them ;  and  they  forget  how  all 
absorbing  was  our  faith  in  Mormonism  ivithout  polygamy. 
' '  In  this  state  of  mind  we  knelt  and  prayed  for  the 
Lord  to  increase  our  faith  in  that  very  doctrine  which  in 
our  hearts  we  cursed  and  hated  ;  and  on  our  knees  we 
wept  again  ;  and  natural  feelings  of  repugnance  mingled 
with  an  earnest  struggle  to  submit  to  the  will  of  God. 
.  .  .  All  her  (Madame  Balif's)  anticipations  of  the 
future  were  overshadowed  by  a  terrible  apprehension. 
Thus  we  were  equally  troubled,  though  I  had  to  endure 
most,   as  the   task  of  teaching   fell  upon  me.     I  did  at 


118  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

last  manage  to  persuade  her  not  to  offer  any  active 
opposition  to  the  'revelation,'  but  I  could  not  satisfy  her 
that  all  was  right.  She  even  went  so  far  as  to  promise 
to  try  to  overcome  her  own  feelings,  for  if  it  was  really 
true  she  did  not  wish  to  be  found  fighting  against  the 
Lord.  She  had,  however,  hardly  ceased  speaking  when 
the  thought  of  her  little  daughters  crossed  her  mind,  and 
once  more  she  paced  the  room  like  an  enraged  tigress, 
declaring  angrily  that  '  no  vile  polygamist  should  ever 
possess  either  of  her  sweet  girls.'  I  had  felt  like  this 
for  my  own  darling  Clara.  I  had  now  a  companion  in 
misery,  some  one  who  could  sympathize  with  me.  .  .  . 
Her  sympathy  was  very  dear  to  me  ;  misery  loves  com- 
panionship ;  we  were  sisters  in  affliction.  Not  only  so : 
Madame  Balif  declared  that  this  painful  task  should  not 
rest  on  me  alone  ;  she  would  help  me  in  speaking  to  the 
sisters. 

' '  My  faith  in  Mormonism  was  too  firmly  grounded  to 
admit  of  my  giving  it  up.  Though  I  hated  polygamy,  I 
did  not  dare  question  its  divine  origin.  I  only  pitied 
myself  and  my  sex  for  the  burden  God  had  seen  fit  to 
lay  upon  us.  I  never  for  a  moment  supposed  that  any 
man  would  have  been  so  wicked  as  to  fabricate  a  '  revela- 
tion,' or  so  blasphemous  as  to  palm  it  off  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord.  Oh,  yes,  I  hated  polygamy  in  my  heart,  and 
my  efforts  in  teaching  it  only  increased  my  hatred.  The 
same  sorrow  and  indignation  which  Madame  Balif  had 
so  forcibly  expressed  were  shown  by  almost  every  new 
convert.  The  sisters  became  unhappy,  and  wished  they 
had  died  in  ignorance  of  Mormonism.  I  looked 
anxiously  for  a  change,  but  the  only  change  that 
seemed  probable  was  that  we  might  be  permitted  to 
emigrate  to  Utah,  and  there  was  no  comfort  for  me  in 
that  prospect." 


TJie  Mormon  Delusion.  119 


CHAPTER   VI. 

ACROSS    THE    SEA    TO    UTAH.  THE    HAND-CART    BRIGADE. 

ELDER  STENHOUSE  and  his  wife  returned  to 
England  and  prepared  to  emigrate  to  Utah.  They 
were  not  allowed  to  sail  in  any  steamer  which  might  suit 
their  convenience,  but  were  "counseled"  to  sail  in  the 
ship  chartered  by  the  Mormon  agent.  While  en  route 
they  suffered  greatly  from  the  want  of  proper  food  and 
clothing,  and  many  useless  indignities  were  heaped  upon 
them.  This  was  because  of  the  inbred  heartlessness 
and  despotism  that  sways  the  higher  officers  of  the  Mor- 
mon Church.  Finally  they  arrived  at  Castle  Garden, 
and  although  Mrs.  Stenhouse  had  four  little  children, 
was  in  poor  health,  and  had  endured  great  suffering  on 
the  voyage,  her  husband  was  required  by  the  Mormon 
authorities  to  give  his  entire  attention  to  the  other  emi- 
grants for  a  whole  week  after  their  arrival,  leaving  Mrs. 
Stenhouse,  in  cold  weather  and  unaccustomed  to  such 
exposures,  with  nothing  but  bare  boards  to  sleep  on  and 
deprived  of  every  comfort. 

Of  these  times  Mrs.  Stenhouse  says:  u  I  could  not 
refrain  from  contrasting  my  life  before  and  since  I  knew 
Mormonism.  I  never  knew  what  it  was  to  be  without 
money  or  to  want  for  anything  ;  but  now  I  was  a  stranger 
in  a  strange  land,  in  the  depth  of  winter,  without  a  home, 
without  a  pillow  to  rest  my  weary  head  upon,  and  with 
a  future  before  me  so  dark  that  not  a  single  ray  of  light 
gave  to  it  the  promise  of  hope.  Could  any  slavery  be  more 
complete  than  mine?     My  fanaticism  and  zeal  were  all 


120  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

gone.  I  had  nothing  to  sustain  me.  Certainly  I  was 
still  held  by  the  fear  that  Mormonism  after  all  might  be 
of  God,  and  that  all  this  suffering  might  be  necessary 
for  my  salvation  ;  but  if  at  that  time  I  had  only  had  a 
friend  whose  mind  was  clear  from  all  the  nonsense  of 
Mormonism  and  who  had  felt  sufficient  interest  in  me  to 
advise  me  for  my  good,  I  think  even  then  I  might  have 
freed  myself  from  the  mental  slavery  in  which  I  was 
bound.  But  I  had  no  intercourse  with  any  but  Mormons  ; 
and,  indeed,  a  wish  to  form  Gentile  friendships  I  should 
then  have  considered  a  sin. 

"  A  week  after  our  arrival  (1855)  my  husband  found 
time  to  seek  for  apartments  for  his  family,  and  I  was 
thankful  to  leave  our  miserable  quarters  at  Castle 
Garden. 

"  The  Mormon  authorities  had,  meanwhile,  given 
instructions  to  the  other  emigrants  how  to  act,  and  they 
did  little  more  than  this.  Those  who  had  not  found  work 
or  places  to  go  to  were  ordered  to  leave  the  Garden,  and 
received  permission  to  occupy  an  old  dilapidated  school- 
room in  Williamsburgh,  which  had  been  used  for  preach- 
ing. I  went  there  almost  daily  to  see  them,  and  therefore 
state  what  I  saw  as  an  eye-witness,  and  neither  exag- 
gerate nor  misrepresent.  There  were  huddled  together 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  women,  and  children. 
Most  of  the  men  had  been  respectable  mechanics  in 
their  own  country  ;  many  of  them  I  had  known  person- 
ally and  had  visited  in  their  cozy  English  homes  ;  and 
their  wives  and  children  had  been  decently  brought  up. 
What  they  must  have  suffered  under  this  change  of 
circumstances,  I  leave  the  reader  to  guess. 

' '  In  that  miserable  place  they  lived  da}'  and  night ; 
the  poor,  dispirited  mothers   (many  of  them  very  sick) 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  121 

having  to  cook  and  wash  and  perform  all  the  necessary 
domestic  duties  round  two  small  sheet-iron  stoves.  It 
was  not  long  before  the  place  became  like  a  pest-house 
from  so  many  being  confined  in  so  small  a  place  and 
breathing  the  same  fetid  and  pestilential  atmosphere ; 
and  many  of  the  young  children  died  of  an  epidemic 
which  was  raging  among  them. 

"  They  had  saved  some  of  the  ship's  provisions,  and 
that  was  all  they  had  to  eat,  and  it  did  not  last  long. 
To  me  it  was  most  distressing  to  witness  so  much  misery 
without  being  able  to  render  any  assistance,  particularly 
to  see  the  poor  little  children  shivering  and  crying  with 
hunger  and  cold,  while  many  of  their  mothers  were  in 
such  a  miserable  state  of  apathy  that  they  paid  little 
or  no  attention  to  them.  I  often  tried  to  awaken  in 
them  feelings  of  human  sympathy,  but  I  was  met  with 
a  murmur  of  discontent.  The  people  —  men  and  women 
alike  —  seemed  to  be  utterly  demoralized.  Nor  can  this 
be  a  matter  of  wonder ;  for  in  England  the  men  had 
been  told  that  while  at  home  they  could  earn  only  four 
or  five  shillings  a  day  and  would  never  be  able  to  put 
away  enough  to  carry  them  all  the  way  to  Utah,  in  New 
York  they  would  be  able  to  earn  two  and  a  half  to  three, 
and  even  four,  dollars  a  day,  and  that  employers  would 
even  come  on  shipboard  anxious  to  engage  them.  Thus 
they  had  by  false  statements  been  allured  from  their 
homes  and  plunged  into  the  most  abject  poverty.  Day 
by  day  they  went  out  seeking  work  but  finding  none  ; 
willing  to  do  anything  to  provide  bread  for  their  families, 
but  returning  nightly,  unsuccessful,  to  their  starving 
wives  and  children. 

"In  the  midst  of  all  this,  the  apostle  John  Taylor 
learned  that  some   of  these  poor  souls    had   been   seen 


122  TJie  Mormon  Delusion. 

begging.  So  he  came  from  his  comfortable  boarding- 
house  in  Brooklyn,  well  wrapped  up  in  a  handsome 
overcoat,  and  scolded  these  poor  starving  creatures, 
and  harangued  them  concerning  the  meanness  of  beg- 
ging. With  great  swelling  words  he  spoke  of  the 
dignity  of  the  Saints  of  the  Most  High,  and  told  them 
that  he  despised  a  Mormon  who  could  fall  to  the  level 
of  a  common  street  beggar. 

"Could  he  have  heard  the  unspoken  curses  of  the 
poor  wounded  hearts  of  those  who  listened  to  him,  as 
thej7  thought  of  his  brother  '  apostle '  in  England,  and 
of  how  he  had  deceived  them  and  sent  them  into  a 
strange  country  in  the  depth  of  winter,  to  beg,  to 
starve,  or  to  steal,  he  would  have  learned  that  though 
the  victim  of  a  delusive  faith  may  mentally  submit  to 
man-made  creeds  and  priesthoods,  in  his  heart  he  will 
judge  not  so  much  the  words  he  hears  as  the  man  who 
utters  them. 

"One  of  those  emigrants  very  recently  related  to  me 
some  of  the  painful  circumstances  through  which  he 
passed  at  that  time.  He  told  me  that  he  walked  the 
streets  of  Williamsburgh  for  three  days  and  three  nights 
without  a  mouthful  of  anything  to  eat,  or  a  place  to  lay 
his  head.  He  could  obtain  no  work,  and  at  length,  in 
sheer  desperation,  he  was  forced  to  beg.  The  church 
authorities  knew  well  the  misery  of  the  people,  but  took 
no  adequate  steps  to  alleviate  it. 

"  During  the  first  weeks  after  our  arrival  in  New  York 
City,  we  had  nothing  to  depend  upon  but  the  provisions 
which  we  had  saved  from  the  ship's  rations.  These 
rations  consisted  chiefly  of  sugar  that  was  almost  black, 
very  bad  black  tea,  which  when  made  looked  like  dye,  the 
poorest  kind  of  sea-biscuit,  and  other  things  accordingly. 


The  Mormon  Delusion,  123 

The  provisions  for  the  Mormon  emigrants  were  purchased 
in  bulk  by  the  church  authorities,  who  made  their  own 
profits  on  them,  and  the  apostle  at  Liverpool  had  the 
benefit  of  all  that  could  be  saved  out  of  them  during  the 
voyage,  and  yet  the  emigrants  paid  the  price  of  the  best." 

Mrs.  Stenhouse  then  relates  that  Apostle  Taylor, 
afterwards  president  of  the  Mormon  Church,  was  living 
in  Brooklyn  in  an  elegant  house,  surrounded  by  every 
comfort  and  luxury,  while  he  knew  that  his  victims  had 
not  so  much  as  a  chair  or  even  a  bed  to  lie  upon.  One 
of  his  high  priests  was  doing  some  very  zealous  courting 
of  a  young  English  girl  who  lived  in  Williamsburgh,  while 
his  two  unsuspecting  wives  at  home  in  Salt  Lake  City 
were  earnestly  praying  the  Lord  to  bless  him  in  his 
mission  ;  while  Taylor  himself  was  paying  special  atten- 
tion to  a  young  Connecticut  girl,  and  was  only  waiting 
for  special  permission  from  Brigham  Young  to  add  her  to 
the  half-dozen  wives  he  already  had.  There  was  also 
another  high  priest  who  was  courting  a  Connecticut  girl, 
a  sister  of  the  one  whom  Apostle  Taylor  was  going  to 
marry.  When  Brigham's  permission  arrived,  Taylor  pro- 
ceeded to  practice  a  little  polygamy  while  in  New  York 
City,  and  married  this  Miss  Young  and  set  up  house- 
keeping handsomely  in  Brooklyn.  The  high  priests 
were,  however,  required  to  wait  before  marrying  their 
girls  until  they  had  reached  Salt  Lake  City. 

' '  In  all  cases  it  may  be  safely  asserted  that  all  that 
has  been  said  about  getting  the  consent  of  the  first  wife 
before  marrying  a  second,  and  obtaining  a  revelation 
from  the  Lord,  is  pure  folly  and  nonsense.  Brigham 
Young  is  the  only  '  Lord '  who  has  ever  been  consulted 
on  that  question.  The  Mormon  apostles  and  elders 
themselves    are    not    deceived ;    they  know  well    enough 


124  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

that  there  is  no  truth  in  all  this  mockery  ;  they  know 
that  the  only  source  of  all  their  revelations  is  the  man 
Brigham  Young." 

Previous  to  1856  Mormon  emigrants  had  found  their 
way  to  St.  Louis  by  rail  from  New  York  or  by  the 
Mississippi  River  from  New  Orleans,  and  from  St.  Louis 
westward  by  ox-teams  for  the  old  and  feeble,  the  others 
going  on  foot,  both  male  and  female.  Although  many 
came,  yet  in  insufficient  numbers  to  satisfy  the  ambition 
of  Brigham  Young,  and  although  these  cost  only  about 
fifty  to  sixty  dollars  per  head  from  Liverpool  to  Salt 
Lake  City,  he  determined  upon  a  cheaper  plan.  The 
Mormon  missionaries  and  newspapers  proclaimed  to  the 
Saints  in  Europe  that  God  had  specially  inspired  Brigham 
Y'oung  with  a  much  better  plan,  namely  :  instead  of  ox 
and  mule  wagons  from  St.  Louis,  the  emigrants  were 
to  go  on  foot  and  draw  the  larger  part  of  their  baggage 
in  small  hand-carts,  to  be  specially  built  for  this  purpose 
under  "  divine  "  direction.  Hence  this  came  to  be  known 
among  the  Mormons  as  the  "divine  plan"  or  as  the 
"hand-cart  scheme,"  and  thousands  of  devotees  who  were 
waiting  in  Europe  to  gather  to  Zion  were  told  that  this 
was  the  time  and  this  the  "divine  "  plan.  It  is  estimated 
that  five  or  six  thousand  emigrants  left  Liverpool  in  the 
spring  and  summer  of  1856  bound  for  Salt  Lake  City. 
They  came  in  companies  of  five  or  six  hundred  each  at 
a  time,  and  Brigham  Y'oung  had  one  agent  in  Europe, 
one  in  New  York,  one  at  St.  Louis,  and  one  at  Iowa 
City,  Iowa.  This  latter  was  the  point  from  which  the 
emigrants  were  to  be  equipped  that  year  for  their  journey 
across  the  plains. 

Mrs.  Stenhouse's  intimate  friend  in  England,  Mary 
Burton,  was  now  married  to  the  Mormon  elder  Shrews- 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  12  5 

bury.  She  was  in  one  of  these  hand-cart  companies, 
and  the  following  account  of  the  journey  is  condensed 
and  quoted  largely  from  her  letter  to  Mrs.  Stenhouse. 
When  a  ship-load  had  arrived  in  Castle  Garden,  Mrs. 
Stenhouse  and  her  husband  went  to  meet  them.  Mrs. 
Stenhouse  says:  "A  strange  spectacle  was  presented 
to  our  view.  More  than  six  hundred  Mormon  emigrants 
were  gathered  there,  all  on  their  way  to  Zion,  and  burn- 
ing with  zeal  and  enthusiasm  worthy  of  a  better  cause. 
There  were  aged  men  and  women,  whose  heads  were 
hoary  with  the  snows  of  many  a  winter,  and  whose 
tottering  steps  had  borne  them  to  the  verge  of  three- 
score years  and  ten ;  there  were  stout-hearted  fathers 
and  families,  and  matrons  with  sons  and  daughters 
growing  up  around  them ;  there  were  young  men  in  the 
pride  and  strength  of  manhood,  and  maidens  in  the 
modest  blush  of  womanly  beauty ;  and  little  toddling 
children,  and  babes  in  their  mothers'  arms  —  all  obedi- 
ent to  what  they  thought  was  the  command  of  God 
himself,  all  with  their  faces  set  steadfastly  and  anxiously 
Zion  ward. 

"  Let  not  the  reader  smile  at  the  blind  infatuation  of 
those  poor  emigrants.  Would  he  or  she  have  suffered 
so  confidingly,  so  faithfully,  for  his  or  her  religion? 
They  might  be  mistaken,  but  truly  theirs  was  a  faith 
which  '  hoped  all  things,  believed  all  things,  endured  all 
things.' 

"  Poor  Mary,  in  her  innocent  zeal,  writes :  ;  My 
husband  said  that  we  ought  to  be  an  example  to  the 
poor  Saints ;  so  we  gave  away  nearly  all  our  money 
to  put  into  the  emigration  fund  and  came  along  with  the 
rest.  We  both  glory  in  making  sacrifices.  The  apostle 
tells  us  that  this  is  to  be  the  most  pleasant  and  success- 


126  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

ful  journey  for  emigrants  ever  made  across  the  plains. 
There  is  one  thing,  however,  that  I  do  not  like.  The 
prophet  and  Heber  C.  Kimball  and  Jedediah  Grant 
counseled  the  richer  emigrants  to  give  as  much  as  the}' 
could  —  all  their  property,  if  they  had  faith  enough  — 
to  help  the  poor  brethren  to  emigrate  ;  but  the  American 
elders  had  private  instructions  —  so  brother  Shrewsbury 
told  me  —  to  use  the  money  to  help  out  all  the  unmarried 
girls  who  are  willing  to  go.  I  confess  that  this  troubled 
me  not  a  little  ;  but  my  husband  says  that  when  we  get 
to  Zion  we  shall  find  all  will  be  right,  and  of  course  I 
believe  him.'  I  asked  her  whether  the  Saints  in  Eugland 
had  heard  any  of  those  strange  reports  about  Brigham 
Young  defying  the  government,  which  had  attracted  so 
much  attention  in  this  country.  '  Certainly,'  she  said  ; 
'  it  is  because  the  day  is  so  very  near  when  all  inter- 
course between  God's  people  and  the  Gentile  world  shall 
be  cut  off  forever  that  these  great  efforts  are  being  made 
to  gather  the  Saints  to  Zion.  Why,  at  the  last  general 
conference  in  Liverpool  the  president  had  instructions 
from  Salt  Lake  City  to  propose  Brigham  Young  as 
"  prophet,  seer,  revelator,  and  King  !  "  '  '  King  ! '  I  said. 
'How  can  President  Young  ever  be  "king"?  Utah  is 
part  of  the  territory  of  the  States,  and  under  their 
jurisdiction  ;  it  is  not  even  a  state  itself  yet,  and  Con- 
gress has  refused  to  sanction  the  name  of  "  Deseret." 
This  country  will  never  suffer  a  kingdom  to  be  set  up  in 
Utah.' 

"  '  No,  sister  Stenhouse,'  she  exclaimed,  '  I  am  under 
no  mistake.  My  husband  assured  me  that  the  confer- 
ence accepted  the  proposition,  and  that  it  was  received 
unanimously.  The  Saints  are  gathering  in  from  all  parts 
of  the  world,  and  when  war  is  declared  thev  will  not  be 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  127 

found  unprepared.  Why,  here  on  board  with  us  the 
American  elders  are  all  provided  with  swords  and 
revolvers  of  the  very  best  make  that  could  be  got, 
and  I  myself  have  heard  them  say  that  Brigham  Young 
intends  shortly  to  declare  his  independence  of  the  United 
States.  We  did  n't  know  this  before  we  left  England, 
but  we  felt  sure  that  he  had  some  great  purpose  in  view 
which  had  been  revealed  to  him. 

"  '  You  have  no  idea  how  excited  and  anxious  every- 
body is.  Some  of  the  people,  in  order  to  obey  counsel, 
sold  their  watches  and  jewelry,  and  even  their  best 
clothes,  scarcely  keeping  enough  for  the  journey,  and 
ever}7  one  who  had  any  money  gave  it  away. ' " 

Mr.  Tenant,  a  rich  new  convert  in  England,  gave 
thirty  thousand  dollars  —  all  that  he  had  in  the  world  — 
to  Brigham  Young  for  this  emigrant  fund,  under  the 
assurances  of  the  Mormon  missionaries  that  Brigham 
would  upon  Mr.  Tenant's  arrival  in  Salt  Lake  City  give 
back  to  him  far  more  than  the  value  of  his  thirty  thou- 
sand dollars.  He  was  one  of  the  "hand-cart"  emigrants 
and  after  intolerable  hardship  and  suffering  died  on 
the  plains,  not  feasting  his  eyes  upon  that  Zion  for 
which  he  beggared  himself.  Mrs.  Stenhouse  says : 
' '  How  little  did  either  of  us  imagine  that  after  poor 
Mr.  Tenant's  miserable  death  upon  the  plains  we  should 
live  to  see  his  wife  destitute  and  defrauded  of  her 
property  by  Brigham,  dragging  out  a  miserable  existence 
in  Zion,  and  dependent  even  for  a  crust  of  bread  upon 
the  kindness  of  the  brethren  :  and  yet  this  was  how  the 
prophet,  under  the  mask  of  liberality,  contrived  for  his 
own  purposes  to  cheat  this  unfortunate  and  too-confiding 
Saint !  " 

It  pays    from    the    financial   standpoint   to   hold    high 


128  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

office  in  the  Mormon  Church.  The  Mormon  leaders 
fattened  upon  their  victims.  The  emigrant  officers  were 
no  exception,  and  sought  to  make  the  most  of  their 
"opportunities."  The  agency  of  the  Mormon  emigra- 
tion was  at  that  time  a  very  lucrative  position.  The 
agent  in  England  received  a  half-guinea  per  head  from 
the  ship-brokers  at  Liverpool  for  every  adult  emigrant 
that  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  the  agent  at  New  York 
was  paid  by  the  railroad  companies  a  percentage  on  emi- 
grant tickets  and  extra  baggage,  but  a  more  profitable 
position  was  that  of  the  agent  at  the  outfitting  stations  in 
the  interior.  The  Mormon  agent  purchased  all  the  cattle, 
wagons,  tents,  wagon-covers,  flour,  cooking  utensils, 
stoves,  and  the  staple  articles  for  a  three  months'  journey 
across  the  plains,  and  from  them  the  emigrant  Saints 
must  supply  themselves.  Much  was  said  in  Mormon 
newspapers  and  sermons  upon  the  blessings  of  unity, 
especially  in  purchases,  and  no  one  was  held  as  in  good 
standing  in  the  church  who  would  sail  by  other  ships  or 
travel  by  other  directions  than  those  prescribed  by  the 
Mormon  agent. 

Most  unfortunately  for  the  poor  emigrants,  during  the 
season  of  1856  these  agents  of  the  Mormon  Church 
made  no  arrangements  for  receiving  and  forwarding  and 
providing  for  the  unprecedented  immigration  which  sought 
that  year  to  gather  to  the  Utah  Mecca  of  fools  and 
fanatics. 

Mary  Burton's  pitiful  tale  continues:  "  When  we  left 
Liverpool  we  were  told  that  hand-carts,  provisions,  and 
all  that  was  needed  should  be  provided  before  we  arrived  ; 
when  we  arrived  in  Iowa  City  not  the  slightest  prepara- 
tion had  been  made.  Three  companies  had,  after  a  long 
delav,  been  sent  out  before  we  reached  Iowa  Citv.     As  it 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  129 

was  then  early  hi  the  season,  they  completed  their  jour- 
ney before  the  cold  of  winter  set  in.  We  waited  three 
weeks  in  Iowa  City,  while  they  were  making  the  hand- 
carts. They  were  very  lightly  made,  and  I  think  not  at 
all  suitable  for  such  a  long  and  wearisome  journey  ;  and 
being  so  hastily  put  together,  and  most  of  the  wood 
unseasoned,  they  were  utterly  unfit  for  the  rough  work 
for  which  they  were  constructed.  Twenty  of  these  carts 
—  one  to  every  five  —  were  allowed  to  every  hundred 
persons,  who  were  also  allowed  five  good-sized  tents  and 
one  wagon,  with  three  yoke  of  oxen,  to  transport  the 
baggage  and  provisions.  We  were  only  allowed  seven- 
teen pounds  of  bedding  and  clothing  each,  which,  with 
cooking  utensils,  etc.,  made  up  about  one  hundred 
pounds  to  each  cart,  and  that  was  quite  as  much  as 
the  cart  (itself  only  sixty  pounds  in  weight)  could 
carry. 

"  You  can  see  how  difficult  it  must  have  been,  out  of 
every  hundred  persons,  —  men,  women,  and  children,  — 
to  find  twenty  who  were  strong  enough  to  pull  even 
such  frail  things  as  those  hand-carts  were.  The  married 
men  and  the  young  men  and  boys  did  the  best  they  could, 
but  they  could  do  no  more,  and  some  of  the  carts  were 
drawn  by  young  women  alone. 

"  What  weary  days  we  spent!  Hour  after  hour  went 
by,  mile  after  mile  we  walked,  wearily,  hopelessly,  never, 
never  seeming  to  be  a  step  the  further  on  our  way. 
When  night  came  on,  tired  and  footsore,  we  lav  down  to 
rest,  but  seemed  no  nearer  to  our  home  in  Zion. 

"  What  we  felt,  God  alone  knows  ;  but  our  poor,  weary 
hearts  were  full  of  confiding  faith  in  him,  and  we  placed 
undoubting  confidence  in  the  promises  we  had  received. 
The  old  folks  walked  behind,  and  so  did  the  children  ;  but 


130  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

sometimes,  when  the  little  ones  were  very  weary  indeed, 
the  parents  would  place  them  on  the  top  of  the  bedding 
in  the  hand-cart  and  give  them  a  lift.  But  some  of  the 
elderly  people  who  were  unused  to  walking  far,  and  whom 
it  was  impossible  to  carry,  suffered  a  great  deal ;  and 
sometimes  mothers  with  children  at  their  breasts  would 
trudge  on  mile  after  mile  in  all  the  heat  and  dust  without 
a  murmur  or  complaint,  until  they  almost  dropped  down 
with  fatigue.  What  some  of  these  poor  creatures  suffered 
no  words  could  tell.  Had  we  been  left  to  ourselves,  we 
should,  of  course,  have  provided  for  every  contingency  ; 
but  we  came  in  obedience  to  counsel  uuder  the  direction 
of  the  church,  and  after  we  had  paid  for  everything  the 
church  even  '  took  care '  of  our  money,  so  that  we  there- 
fore could  not  procure  necessaries  by  the  way,  as  other- 
wise we  might  have  done. 

' '  Meetings  were  held  nearly  every  evening  to  keep  up 
the  courage  of  the,  emigrants  by  preaching,  counsel,  and 
prayer,  and  the  burden  of  all  the  preaching  was  :  '  Obey 
your  leaders  in  all  things.'  The  emigrants  were  entirely 
ignorant  of  the  country  and  climate.  Simple,  honest, 
earnest  to  go  to  '  Zion '  at  once,  and  obedient  as  little 
children  to  the  '  servants  of  God '  —  under  these  circum- 
stances they  must  leave  their  destinies  in  the  hands  of  the 
leaders.  A  council  was  held  and  all  the  leaders  declared 
that  the  company  must  move  forward,  but  one  of  them, 
Levi  Savage,  dared  to  tell  the  truth.  He  said  that  people 
well  mounted  or  with  good  teams  could  make  the  journey 
before  winter,  but  that  for  a  band  of  people  like  our- 
selves, with  aged  folks  and  women  and  little  children  and 
drawing  heavy  burdens,  it  was  impossible.  He  strongly 
urged  that  we  take  up  our  quarters  and  remain  until 
spring,  when  we  could  safelv  continue  our  journey.     The 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  131 

other  leaders  denounced  him  as  weak  in  the  faith,  and 
prophesied  in  the  name  of  God  that  we  should  get 
through  in  safety.  One  of  them  wound  up  his  proph- 
esying by  saying  that  though  it  might  storm  on  our  right 
hand  and  on  our  left  the  Lord  would  keep  our  way  open 
before  us,  and  that  we  should  get  to  Zion  in  safety. 
These  assurances  had  a  telling  effect  on  the  people.  To 
them  it  was  the  voice  of  God.  They  gave  a  loud  and 
hearty  Amen,  while  tears  of  joy  ran  down  their  sun-burnt 
cheeks  ;  but,  sister  Stenhouse,  before  the  month  was  over 
I  saw  with  my  own  eyes  that  prophecy,  those  promises, 
falsified  to  the  very  letter. 

"  It  was  early  in  September  when  we  reached  Laramie, 
Wyoming,  but  we  found  nothing  awaiting  us  there.  We 
were  all  very  much  discouraged  at  this.  We  now  learned 
that  if  we  continued  at  the  same  rate  as  that  at  which 
we  had  previously  been  traveling,  and  received  each 
the  same  allowance  daily,  we  should  be  left  utterly  desti- 
tute of  provisions  when  we  were  yet  three  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  from  the  eud  of  our  journey.  Nothing 
remained  but  to  reduce  our  allowance,  and  at  the  same 
time  we  were  forced  to  make  incredible  exertions  to 
travel  faster.  Soon  our  allowance  was  again  reduced. 
Picture  to  yourself  these  men  drawing  after  them  each 
one  a  loaded  cart,  with  one  or  more  children  most  fre- 
quently superadded  to  its  weight,  trudging  wearily  eveiy 
day  ten,  fifteen,  or  twenty  miles  over  the  rough  desert, 
wading  across  streams  with  the  women  and  children, 
setting  up  tents  at  night,  working  as  the}7  never  worked 
before  in  all  their  lives,  and  withal  keeping  soul  and 
body  together  upon  twelve  ounces  of  flour  a  day  !  Think 
what  the  feeble  and  aged,  the  sick,  the  women  and 
children  must  have    endured !     We  could    not  stop   the 


132  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

attacks  of  dysentery,  no  proper  medicines  being  in  the 
camp,  and  in  almost  every  instance  it  carried  off  the 
parties  attacked.  It  was  surprising  to  the  unmarried 
men  to  witness  the  devotion  of  men  to  their  families. 
Many  a  father  pulled  his  cart  with  his  little  children 
on  it  until  the  day  preceding  his  death.  I  have  seen 
some  pull  their  carts  in  the  morning,  give  out  during 
the  day,  and  die  before  the  next  morning.  The  Sweet- 
water River  we  had  to  cross  again  and  again  upon  our 
way.  As  usual  we  had  to  wade  through  the  water  each 
time,  and  though  the  men  helped  over  the  women  and 
children  as  well  as  they  could,  many  of  us  got  very  wet 
indeed  and  quite  chilled,  and  we  were  all  cold  and  mis- 
erable. Still,  our  faith  never  gave  way.  Some,  I  know, 
began  to  doubt  a  little,  but  they  had  not  yet  lost  all 
faith,  and  discouraged  and  wretched,  as  indeed  we  were, 
the  greater  number  bore  up  with  heroic  resolution.  I 
noticed,  however,  on  the  faces  of  some  poor  souls  a 
peculiar  expression  which  it  is  quite  impossible  to 
describe  —  the  presentiment  of  that  fearful  death  which 
so  soon  overtook  them.  We  crept  out  of  our  tents 
cramped  and  miserable,  half -frozen,  and  with  our  eyes 
red  and  tearful  with  the  cold.  These  things  soon  began 
to  tell  upon  the  health  of  every  one  of  us,  especially 
upon  the  aged  and  those  who  were  sickly.  Hope  at 
last  died  out  in  their  poor  weary  hearts.  One  by  one 
they  fell  off,  utterly  worn  out.  Poor  things  !  how  they 
had  longed  to  see  the  promised  Zion,  and  now  all 
expectation  of  peaceful  rest  on  earth  was  over  —  the 
bitter  end  had  come.  We  dug  graves  for  them  by  the 
wayside  in  the  desert,  and  there  we  laid  them  with 
many  tears,  scarcely  daring  to  look  one  another  in  the 
face,  for  we  felt  that  our  own  time    might    perhaps    be 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  133 

nearer  than  we  thought.  It  was  seldom  that  we  left 
a  camp-ground  without  burying  one  or  more.  Soon  it 
was  no  longer  the  aged  and  sickly  who  were  taken  off, 
but  the  }7oung  and  strong.  Cold,  hunger,  and  excessive 
toil  brought  on  dysentery  ;  and  when  once  attacked  by 
that  there  was  little  hope  for  the  sufferer,  for  we  had 
no  medicine. 

"  I  saw  one  poor  man,  whose  health  had  evidently 
never  been  strong,  draw  the  cart  with  his  two  little  ones 
in  it,  as  well  as  the  baggage,  mile  after  mile,  until  he 
could  hardly  drag  his  weary  limbs  a  step  further ;  his 
wife  carried  a  little  five  months'  old  baby  in  her  bosom. 
This  the}7  did  day  after  day,  until  disease  attacked  the 
husband,  and  it  was  evident  that  he  could  bear  up  no 
longer.  The  next  morning  I  saw  him,  pale  as  a  corpse, 
bowed  down,  and  shiveriug  in  every  limb,  but  still 
stumbling  on  as  best  he  could.  Before  the  day  was 
half -over  the  poor  wife  lagged  behind  with  her  babe, 
and  her  husband  did  not  seem  to  notice  her.  This  was 
not  the  result  of  heartlessness  on  his  part ;  I  believe 
that  even  then  he  had  lost  all  consciousness.  He  did  not 
know  it,  but  he  was  dying.  The  poor  man  dragged  the 
cart  up  to  the  last  moment,  and  when  the  company 
halted  for  the  night  he  had  turned  aside,  and,  sitting 
down,  he  bowed  his  head  between  his  knees  and  never 
spoke  again.  Later  still,  the  poor  wife  reached  the 
camp,  and  I  saw  her  then.  There  was  no  tear  in  her 
eyes,  and  she  uttered  neither  cry  nor  moan,  but  there 
was  upon  her  features  a  terrible  expression  of  fixed 
despair  which  I  dared  not  even  look  upon.  A  few 
days  after  this  I  saw  that  poor  mother  in  her  tent  frozen 
to  death. 

' '  As  death  thinned  our  ranks  there  were  hardly  enough 


134  Tlie  Mormon  Delusion, 

left  with  strength  sufficient  to  pitch  our  tents  at  night. 
At  last  the  snow  fell.  I  think  it  must  have  been  five 
or  six  inches  deep  within  half  an  hour.  The  wind  was 
very  keen  and  cutting,  and  it  drifted  the  snow  right 
into  our  faces ;  and  thus  blinded  by  the  storm  and 
scarcely  able  to  stand,  we  stumbled  on  that  day  for 
fully  sixteen  miles.  What  we  suffered  it  would  be 
useless  for  me  to  attempt  to  describe.  Some  of  the 
scenes  we  witnessed  were  heart-rending. 

"  One  young  girl,  vainly  struggling  to  drag  her  hand- 
cart through  the  snow,  froze  her  limbs,  which  were  ampu- 
tated after  reaching  Salt  Lake  City.  A  poor  old  woman 
lingered  behind  late  in  the  day.  When  night  came  it 
was  impossible  for  any  one  to  go  back  to  search  for  her. 
The  next  morning  there  were  found  near  the  camp  some 
torn  rags,  —  the  remnants  of  her  dress,  —  a  few  bones 
well  gnawed,  with  the  marks  of  the  wolf  fangs  still  upon 
them,  and  the  snow  all  round  crimsoned  with  blood. 

"  The  morning  broke  at  last,  dark  and  dreary,  and 
a  thick,  heavy  mantle  of  snow  covered  all  the  camp  ; 
but  we  contrived  to  communicate  with  each  other,  and 
soon  it  was  whispered  that  five  poor  creatures  had  been 
found  dead  in  the  tents,  and  we  looked  at  one  another 
wistfully,  wondering  which  of  us  would  be  taken  next. 
We  buried  those  five  poor  frozen  corpses  in  one  grave, 
wrapped  in  the  clothing  in  which  they  died.  A  meeting 
of  the  leaders  was  held,  and  it  was  resolved  that  we 
should  remain  where  we  were  until  the  promised  supplies 
reached  us.  We  could  not,  in  fact,  do  otherwise,  for 
the  snow  was  so  deep  that  it  was  impossible  for  us  to 
proceed,  and  the  sick  and  dying  demanded  immediate 
attention.  That  morning  for  the  first  time  no  flour  w;is 
distributed  —  there  was  none.     All  that  remained  besides 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  135 

our  miserable  cattle  was  a  small  quantity  of  hard  biscuit 
which  Captain  Willie  bought  at  Laramie,  and  a  few 
pounds  of  rice  and  dried  apples.  Nearly  all  the  biscuit 
was  at  once  divided  among  the  whole  company,  and  the 
few  pounds  which  remained,  together  with  the  rice  and 
apples,  were  given  to  the  sick  and  the  very  little  children. 
They  also  killed  two  of  the  cattle  and  divided  the  beef. 
Most  of  the  people  got  through  their  miserable  allow- 
ance that  very  morning,  and  then  they  had  to  fast. 

'l  We  waited  three  long  days  for  the  return  of  Captain 
Willie.  The  misery  that  was  suffered  in  that  camp  was 
beyond  the  power  of  words  to  describe.  On  the  second 
day  they  gave  us  some  more  beef  rations,  but  they  did 
us  little  good.  The  beef  was,  of  course,  of  the  poorest, 
and  eaten  alone  it  did  not  seem  to  satisfy  hunger,  and 
those  who  were  prostrated  by  dysentery,  although  they 
ate  ravenously,  suffered  much  in  consequence  afterwards. 
The  number  of  the  sick  rapidly  increased,  and  not  a  few 
died  from  exhaustion  ;  and  those  really  seemed  happiest 
who  were  thus  taken  from  the  horrors  which  surrounded 
them.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  intense  frost  we  should 
all  probably  have  fallen  victims  to  the  intolerable  atmos- 
phere of  the  camp.  I  would  not  even  allow  my  mind 
to  recall  some  of  the  scenes  which  I  witnessed  at  that 
time  :  scenes,  the  disgusting  and  filthy  horrors  of  which 
no  decent  words  could  describe. 

"  The  third  day  came  and  still  no  relief.  It  was 
evident  that  if  no  help  arrived  speedily  the  end  was  not 
far  off.  The  sun  was  sinking  behind  the  distant  western 
hills,  but  at  that  moment  some  raised  a  shout  of  joy. 
We  knew  what  it  was !  Men,  women,  and  children 
rushed  from  their  tents  to  welcome  the  approaching 
wagons.  The  poor  creatures  shouted  wildly  for  joy ; 
even  the  strong  men  shed  tears  ;  and  the  sisters,  over- 


I06  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

come  with  the  sudden  change  from  death  to  life,  flung 
themselves  into  the  arms  of  the  brethren  as  they  came 
into  the  camp  and  covered  them  with  kisses.  Such 
happiness  you  never  saw.  To  some  this  change  for  the 
better  arrived  too  late.  They  turned  from  us  with  a  look 
of  terrible  apathy  ;  and  one  or  two,  who  partly  seemed 
to  understand,  only  replied  with  an  indifference  painful 
to  witness,  '  Too  late  !  too  late  !  ' 

"  As  we  journeyed,  the  weather  every  day  grew  colder. 
Many  of  the  unfortunate  people  lost  their  fingers  and 
toes,  others  their  ears  ;  one  poor  woman  lost  her  sight ; 
and  I  was  told  of  a  poor  sick  man  who  held  on  to  the 
wagon-bars  to  save  himself  from  jolting,  and  had  all 
his  fingers  frozen  off.  Few,  if  any,  of  the  people  recov- 
ered from  the  effects  of  that  frost.  One  morning  they 
found  a  poor  old  man  who  had  vainly  tried  the  evening 
before  to  keep  up  with  the  rest.  His  corpse  was  not 
far  from  the  camp,  but  it  had  been  sadly  mangled  by 
the  wolves.  Some  of  the  people,  even  women  and 
children,  who  lagged  behind  were  whipped  so  as  to 
make  them  keep  up,  and  to  keep  life  in  them. 

"  The  next  day  we  remained  in  camp,  for  there  were 
so  many  sick  and  dying  that  we  could  not  proceed. 
Early  in  the  morning  they  went  round  to  see  who  was 
dead.  They  found  in  the  tents  fifteen  corpses,  all  stiff 
and  frozen.  Two  more  died  during  the  day.  A  large 
square  hole  was  dug  and  they  were  buried  in  it  three 
abreast,  and  then  they  were  covered  with  leaves  and 
earth,  every  precaution  being  taken  to  keep  them  from 
the  wrolves.  The  atmosphere  seemed  to  become  sensibly 
warmer,  and  our  sufferings  were  proportionately  less 
as  we  approached  Zion.  What  the  feeliugs  of  others 
might  have  been  when  they  first  saw  the  goal  of  our 
hopes — Zion   of    our    prayers    and    songs  —  I   can    not 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  137 

tell.  When  we  left  Iowa  City  we  were  about  five  hun- 
dred in  all.  Some  left  us  on  the  way.  When  we  left 
Florence  and  began  the  journey  across  the  plains,  we 
were  over  four  hundred  and  twenty,  of  which  number 
we  buried  sixty-seven  —  a  sixth  of  the  whole.  The 
company  which  followed  us  fared  worse  than  we.  They 
numbered  six  hundred  when  they  started,  but  they 
buried  one  hundred  and  fifty  on  the  journey  —  one  in 
every  four." 

The  hand-cart  company  next  behind  that  in  which  Mary 
Burton  traveled  was  under  the  guidance  of  Elder  Martin. 
The  sufferings  of  this  company  were  even  more  severe. 
When  meat  was  consumed  then  the  starving  creatures  ate 
the  hides,  and  also  all  the  hide  wrapped  around  the  wheels 
of  the  hand-carts,  and  every  scrap  about  the  wagons  and 
the  neck-piece  of  the  buffalo-skin  which  had  already  done 
service  as  a  door-mat  for  two  months.  A  small  number 
of  them  remained  in  camp  during  the  winter,  and  in  the 
spring  subsisted  on  thistle  roots  and  a  species  of  wild 
garlic  until  flour  reached  them  from  Salt  Lake  City. 
Of  the  intensity  of  the  cold  which  this  company  endured 
almost  incredible  accounts  are  given.  Men  and  women 
sitting  on  a  wagon-tongue  or  on  the  ground,  or  leaning 
against  their  fragile  carts,  while  eating  their  scanty  fare, 
would  in  an  instant  die  without  an  evidence  of  coming 
change  :  with  a  morsel  of  bread  or  biscuit  in  their  hands, 
nearing  it  to  their  mouths,  men  could  be  seen  stiff  in 
death.  Such  scenes  can  hardly  be  imagined  by  those  who 
did  not  witness  them,  but  to  the  hundreds  of  men  and 
women  who  had  fled  from  "  merry  England  "  to  escape 
the  destruction  which  they  had  been  taught  was  coming 
upon  the  Gentile  nations  they  were  a  bitter  reality. 

Such  was  the  ending  of  the  "  divine  plan  "  for  emigrat- 
ing the  poor  victims  to  Mormonism  in  the  year  1856. 


138  TJie  Mormon  Delusion. 


CHAPTER  VII.1 

EXPERIENCES  IN    SALT    LAKE  CITY.  MR.    STENHOUSE    TAKES 

WIFE    NUMBER   TWO. 

OUR  company  across  the  plains  to  Salt  Lake  was 
what  was  called  an  '  independent  company '  ;  by 
which  I  mean  that  we  were  able  to  defray  our  own 
expenses  without  borrowing  from  the  church  ;  the  poorer 
emigrants  were  assisted  from  a  fund  provided  for  that 
purpose  by  the  Perpetual  Emigration  Fund  Company. 
"  What  living  contradictions  we  were  as  we  crossed 
the  plains  —  singing  in  a  circle,  night  and  morning,  the 
songs  of  Zion,  and  listening  to  prayers  and  thanksgivings 
for  having  been  permitted  to  gather  out  of  Babylon  ;  and 
then  during  the  day  as  we  trudged  along  in  twos  and 
threes  expressing  to  each  other  all  our  misgivings  and 
the  bitterness  of  our  thoughts  against  polygamy  !  How 
little  sometimes  do  the  songs  of  gladness  reflect  the  real 
sentiments  of  the  heart !  How  often  have  I  heard  many 
a  poor  heart-broken  woman  singing  the  chorus,  — 

1 1  never  knew  what  joy  was, 
Till  I  became  a  Mormon !  ' 

1  never  could  sing  that  song. 

"  It  was  in  the  month  of  September  when  we  emerged 
from  the  canon  and  caught  sight  of  Salt  Lake  City. 
Everything  looked  green  and  lovely,  and  in  spite  of  all 
my  sad  forebodings  I  involuntarily  exclaimed  :  '  Ah,  what 
a  glorious  spot ! '  It  looked  like  a  beautiful  garden  —  an- 
other Eden  —  in  the  midst  of  a  desert  valley.     We  had  a 

1  All  of  this  chapter  is  condensed  from  Mrs.  Stenhouse's  story. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  139 

o-limpse  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  far  away  in  the  distance, 
stretching  out  like  a  placid  sheet  of  molten  silver,  while 
everywhere  around  were  the  lonely-looking  snow-capped 
mountains,  encircling  us  like  mighty  prison-walls. 

"  While  I  was  enchanted  with  the  glorious  prospect 
before  me,  there  arose  again  in  my  mind  that  hauntiug 
specter  of  my  existence — polygamy.  I  believed  that 
this  little  earthly  paradise  would  probably  be  to  me,  and 
to  my  daughters  after  me,  a  prison-house  ;  and  with  a 
mother's  instinct  I  shuddered  as  I  thought  of  what  they 
might  be  destined  to  suffer  there.  Lovely  as  the  scene 
was,  there  was  a  fatal  shadow  overhanging  it  all.  I  felt 
that  my  doom  was  sealed,  and  there  were  many  women  in 
our  company  who  were  troubled  at  heart  with  fears  as 
sad  as  mine. 

"  Regardless  of  the  teachings  of  the  elders,  and  of 
my  own  husband's  directions,  I  had,  when  we  left  New 
York,  stowed  away  many  little  necessaries  toward  house- 
keeping. I  noticed  that  the  brethren  who  gave  this 
counsel  were  constantly  purchasing  while  they  advised 
every  one  else  to  sell,  and  I  thought  it  wiser  to  follow 
their  example  than  their  precepts. 

"  The  tabernacle  services  seemed  as  strange  to  me  as 
the  people.  There  was  no  regular  order  of  conducting 
the  proceedings,  but  the  prominent  brethren  made 
prayers,  or  '  sermons,'  as  they  were  called  upon  to 
do  so.  The  sermons  would  more  properly  be  called 
speeches  ;  they  were  nothing  but  a  rambling,  disconnected 
glorification  of  the  Saints,  interspersed  with  fearful 
denunciations  of  the  Gentiles,  and  not  infrequently  with 
a  sprinkling  of  expressions  such  as  are  never  used  in 
decent  society.  The  free  and  easy  manners  of  the 
speakers    and  the  brass  band  stationed  in  front  of  the 


140  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

platform  made  people  feel  as  if  they  had  come  lo  a 
puppet-show  rather  than  to  attend  a  religious  meeting. 
There  was  one  lady  at  the  tabernacle  whom  I  regarded 
with  considerable  interest  —  Eliza  R.  Snow,  one  of  the 
prophet's  wives.  She  was  the  first  woman  married  in 
polygamy  after  Joseph  Smith  received  the  'revelation.' 
Her  principal  occupation  at  the  present  time  is  converting 
rebellious  wives  to  obedience  to  their  husbands,  and  con- 
vincing young  girls  that  it  is  their  duty  to  enter  into 
polygamy.  Unhappy  husbands  derive  great  consolation 
from  her  counsels.  In  matters  of  religion  she  is  a  perfect 
fanatic,  and  in  connection  with  the  Female  Relief  Society 
she  reigns  supreme. 

"  Another  of  the  late  Joseph's  wives  is  a  Mrs.  Doctor 
Jacobs,  who  was  actually  married  to  the  prophet  while 
still  living  with  her  first  husband.  Under  the  same  cir- 
cumstances she  married  Brigham  Young  after  Joseph's 
death.  For  some  time  her  husband  knew  nothing  of  the 
whole  affair,  but  Brigham  very  soon  gave  him  to  under- 
stand that  his  company  was  not  wanted. 

"  I  may  as  well  explain  what  is  meant  by  '  spiritual' 
wives  and  '  proxy  '  wives. 

"  Marriages  contracted  by  the  Gentiles,  or  by  Mormons 
in  accordance  with  Gentile  institutions,  are  not  considered 
binding  by  the  Saints.  We  were  told  that  we  had  never 
been  married  at  all  and  that  our  husbands  and  our  chil- 
dren were  not  lawfully  ours.  For  a  marriage  to  be  valid 
it  must  be  solemnized  in  the  Endowment  House  in  Salt 
Lake  City,  or  the  persons  contracting  it  can  never  expect 
to  be  husband  and  wife  in  eternity.  Should  the  husband 
die  before  he  reaches  Zion,  and  if  the  wife  loves  him  suf- 
ficiently well  to  wish  to  be  his  in  eternity,  when  she 
arrives  in  Salt  Lake  City,  if  she  receives  an  offer  of  mar- 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  14] 

riage  from  one  of  the  brethren,  and  does  not  object  to 
him  as  a  second  husband  in  this  world,  she  will  make  an 
arrangement  with  him  that  she  will  be  his  wife  for  time, 
but  that  in  eternity  she  and  all  her  children  shall  be 
handed  over  to  the  first  husband.  A  woman  thus  married 
is  called  a  '  proxy '  wife. 

"  Now  'spiritual'  wives  are  of  two  classes.  The  one 
consists  of  old  ladies  who  have  plenty  of  money  or  prop- 
erty which,  of  course,  needs  looking  after  ;  and  generous 
elders  marry  them,  and  accordingly  '  look  after '  the  said 
property,  and  the  owner  of  it  becomes  the  elder's  spirit- 
ual wife.  She  will  only  be  his  real  wife  in  eternity  when 
she  is  rejuvenated. 

"The  other  kind  of  'spiritual'  wife  is  one  who  is 
married  already,  but  who  does  not  think  that  her  hus- 
band can  '  exalt '  her  to  so  high  a  position  in  the  celestial 
world  as  she  deserves  (perhaps  some  kind  brother  who 
takes  a  great  interest  in  her  welfare  has  told  her  so)  ;  she 
then  is  secretly  '  sealed '  to  one  of  the  brethren  who  is 
better  able  to  exalt  her  (perhaps  to  this  same  brother)  ; 
and  in  the  resurrection  she  will  pass  from  him  who  was 
her  husband  on  earth  to  him  who  is  to  be  her  husband  in 
heaven  —  if  she  has  not  done  so  before. 

"  I  think  it  will  be  evident,  even  to  the  dullest  compre- 
hension, that  under  such  a  system  '  the  world,  the  flesh, 
and  the  devil '  are  far  more  likely  to  play  a  prominent 
part  than  anything  heavenly  or  spiritual.  All  this  is  so 
repugnant  to  the  instincts  and  feelings  of  a  true  woman 
that  I  feel  quite  ashamed  to  write  about  it.  And  yet  the 
working  out  of  this  system  has  produced  results  which 
would  be  perfectly  grotesque  were  it  not  that  they  outrage 
every  ordinary  sense  of  propriety. 

"It  is  not  generally   known   that   the   Mormons   are 


142  TJie  Mormon  Delusion. 

taught  that  the  marriage  at  Cana  of  Galilee  was  Christ's 
own  nuptial  feast,  and  that  Mary  and  Martha  were  his 
plural  wives,  and  that  those  women  who  in  various  parts 
of  the  New  Testament  are  spokeu  of  as  ministering  to 
him  stood  to  him  in  the  same  relation. 

"  Malicious  first  wives,  especially  if  they  are  rather 
elderly  themselves,  frequently  call  the  proxy  wives  'fix- 
in's ' ;  and  the  tone  in  which  some  of  them  utter  the  word 
is  in  the  last  degree  contemptuous.  These  poor  '  fixin's' 
are  seldom  treated  as  real  wives  by  the  husband  himself. 
Some  men,  after  having  married  a  young  proxy  wife, 
have  become  so  enamored  that  they  grew  jealous  of  the 
dead  husband,  and  have  tried  to  get  the  wife  to  break 
faith  with  him,  aud  be  married  to  them  for  eternity  as 
well  as  time.     This  is  certainly  rather  mean  ! 

"The  poverty  of  the  man,  of  course,  was  of  no  con- 
sequence. Living  in  the  primitive  style  in  which  necessity 
then  compelled  the  Saints  to  live,  one  or  half  a  dozen 
extra  wives  made  very  little  difference,  and  Brigham  and 
the  leading  elders  have  always  represented  it  as  a  merito- 
rious act,  for  the  young  especially,  to  '  build  up  the  king- 
dom'  without  regard  to  consequences,  or  the  misery  of 
bringing  up  a  family  in  a  destitute  condition. 

"  It  was  necessary,  we  were  told,  that  the  woman 
should  keep  in  favor  with  her  lord,  otherwise  he  might 
withdraw  his  protection  and  refuse  to  take  her  into  the 
celestial  kingdom,  in  which  case  when  she  got  to  heaven 
she  would  only  be  an  angel !  To  be  an  angel  is  not  con- 
sidered by  the  Saints  to  be  by  any  means  the  highest 
state  of  glory.  Those  who  do  not  obey  the  '  Celestial 
Order  of  Marriage '  will,  like  the  angels,  neither  marry 
nor  be  given  in  marriage  ;  they  will  be  located,  the  men 
in  one  place,  and  the  women  in  another,  and  will  serve  as 


The  Mormori  Delusion.  143 

slaves,  lackeys,  and  boot-blacks  to  the  Saints.  Those 
who  have  obeyed  the  Gospel  of  the  new  dispensation,  but 
who  have  failed  to  enter  into  polygamy,  will  be  as  upper 
servants,  but  the  rebellious  —  the  'vile  apostates'  and 
the  '  wicked  Gentiles '  —  will  join  the  angels  and  do  all 
the  drudgery  for  the  men  of  many  wives.  Thus  I  learned 
in  Zion  that  my  youthful  notions  about  the  glory  of  the 
cherubim  were  quite  a  mistake,  and  that  it  was  not  such 
a  fine  thing  to  be  an  angel  after  all. 

"  The  Mormon  women,  as  well  as  the  Mormon  men, 
are  noted  for  attending  to  their  own  business  ;  they  do 
not  care  to  tell  their  sorrows  and  trials  to  strangers  or  to 
people  who  are  not  of  their  own  faith.  In  this  way  visi- 
tors to  Salt  Lake  who  have  gone  there  with  the  intention 
of  c  writing  up  '  the  Saints  in  the  newspapers  or  in  a  book 
have  generally  been  misled. 

iC  In  the  Mormon  Church  the  feelings  or  sufferings  of 
women  are  seldom  considered.  If  an  order  is  given  to 
any  man  to  take  a  journey  or  perform  any  given  task, 
his  wife  or  wives  are  not  to  be  thought  of.  They  are  his 
property  just  as  much  as  his  horses,  mules,  or  oxen  ;  and 
if  one  wife  should  die,  it  is  of  little  consequence,  if  he  has 
others  ;  and  if  he  has  not  he  can  easily  get  them.  If  he 
is  not  young  or  fascinating  enough  to  win  his  way  with 
the  young  ladies,  he  has  only  to  keep  on  good  terms  with 
his  bishop  and  every  difficult}7  will  be  smoothed  away,  and 
they  will  be  '  counseled'  to  marry  him.  It  would  never 
be  tolerated  in  any  Mormon  woman  that  she  should  exer- 
cise her  own  judgment  in  opposition  to  her  husband.  I 
have  frequently  seen  intelligent  women  subjected  to  the 
grossest  tyranny  on  the  part  of  ignorant  and  fanatical 
husbands  who  were  influenced  by  the  absurd  teachings  of 
the  tabernacle. 


144  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

"  '  Yes,'  a  Mormon  woman  said  to  me,  l  my  child  is  .a 
very  great  source  of  happiness  to  me,  and  I  love  my 
husband  very  much,  but '  —  hesitatingly  —  '  are  you  in 
polygamy?' 

"'No,  not  yet;  but  I  do  not  know  how  soon  my 
husband  may  take  it  into  his  head  to  take  another  wife.' 

"  '  Are  you  the  first  wife?  '  she  asked. 

"  '  Yes,'  I  replied,  '  and  I  suppose  you  are  also?' 

"  '  No,  I  am  third  wife,'  she  said.  '  I  wish  I  were  first 
wife.' 

"'But  why,'  I  suggested,  'do  you  wish  that?  If 
polygamy  is  the  true  order  of  marriage,  I  do  not  see 
that  it  makes  much  difference  whether  one  is  the  first  or 
the  twentieth  wife.' 

"  'Oh,  dear,  yes,'  she  replied,  '  it  does  make  a  great 
deal  of  difference  ;  for  the  first  wife  will  be  queen  over 
all  the  others,  and  reign  with  her  husband.  If  I  had 
known  that  before  I  was  married  I  should  have  made  my 
husband  promise  to  place  me  first.  Men  can  do  that  if 
they  like.' 

"  '  If  that  is  so,'  I  said,  '  it  is  a  wonder  to  me  that  any 
woman  should  consent  to  become  second,  third,  or  fourth 
wife,  seeing  they  can  not  be  queens.' 

"  '  I  can  see  that  you  have  not  yet  had  your  "  Endow- 
ments," '  she  said,  '  or  you  would  understand  more  about 
these  things  ;  but  as  you  are  a  good  Mormon,  I  can  speak 
freely  to  you.  You  see,  it  is  not  always  those  who  are  first 
wives  in  this  world  who  will  be  first  in  the  celestial  kino-- 
do  in.  It  all  depends  upon  the  amount  of  sacrifice  the 
wife  is  capable  of  making  for  her  husband,  her  faithful- 
ness to  him,  and  the  number  of  children  she  has  borne 
him.  If  she  pleases  him  in  every  particular,  and  is  good, 
patient,    and  above  all  things  obedient   to  all  his   wishes 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  145 

and  commands,  then  she  is  almost  certain  to  be  made 
queen,  unless  the  first  wife  is  just  as  good,  and  then  I 
don't  know  how  they  fix  that.  And  so  you  see  it  is  safer 
to  be  first  wife  at  once.' 

"'Well,  but,'  I  asked,  'knowing  all  this,  I  am 
surprised  that  you  consented  to  be  third  wife ! ' 

"  '  But  I  did  not  know  it  then,'  she  continued.  k  My 
husband  told  me  that  all  wives  were  queens  —  all  equal  — 
and  he  says  so  still  when  I  talk  to  him  about  it.  But  he 
can't  deceive  me.  I  have  spoken  to  some  of  the  old 
Nauvoo  women  who  know  all  about  it,  and  they  tell  me 
that  all  the  polygamic  wives  will  be  subject  to  the  first 
wife  ;  but  the  first  wife,  having  suffered  most,  will  be  the 
one  who  has  gone  through  the  fire  and  been  purified,  and 
found  worthy.' 

"  '  But  do  you  think  that  your  husband  would  wish  to 
deceive  you  about  such  an  important  matter?'  I  said. 

"  'Wait  till  you  have  lived  a  little  longer  here,'  she 
replied,  '  and  you  will  be  able  to  answer  that  question 
yourself,  or  else  your  experience  will  be  very  different 
from  that  of  the  rest  of  the  people  here.* 

"  Just  then  the  husband  made  his  appearance,  and  put 
an  end  to  the  conversation.  He  was  a  tall,  dark-looking 
man,  with  gray  hair,  old  enough  to  be  her  father.  He 
appeared  to  be  well  educated,  and  to  have  seen  better 
days,  though  everything  about  their  home  indicated 
poverty.  The  room  in  which  we  were  sitting  had  no  carpet 
on  the  floor  ;  there  was  a  plain  white-pine  table  in  the 
middle,  a  small  sheet-iron  stove,  four  wooden  chairs,  a 
small  looking-glass,  and  some  cheap  pictures.  This  was 
the  sitting-room  for  the  whole  family  —  three  wives, 
eleven  children,  one  husband. 

"He  asked  me  if  I  had  seen  the  rest  of  the  family. 


146  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

I  replied  negatively,  and  he  said  he  would  see  if  any 
of  them  were  about.  Presently  he  returned,  accompanied 
by  an  elderly  woman  whom  he  introduced  as  Mrs.  Simp- 
sou.  Then  came  another,  not  quite  as  good-looking  as  the 
first,  but  a  great  deal  younger,  and  he  introduced  her  as 
'  My  wife  Ellen.  And  this  one,  '  he  said,  turning  to  the 
one  with  whom  I  had  been  conversing,  '  is  my  wife  Sarah. 
Don't  you  think  I  have  got  three  fine-looking  women?' 
Then,  after  a  pause,  he  added,  '  And  they  are  just  as  good 
as  they  are  good-looking — good,  obedient  wives.  I  have 
no  trouble  with  them ;  my  wishes  are  law  in  this  house. 
Here  you  have  a  family  in  which  the  Spirit  of  God  reigns. 
We  are  not  rich  in  worldly  goods,  as  you  see,  but  we  are 
laying  up  treasure  in  heaven.  We  all  live  in  this  little 
house  of  four  rooms.  My  wife  Ellen,  here,  has  given  up 
her  room  for  a  parlor  for  us  all  to  meet  together  in,  and 
she  sleeps  in  a  wagon  box  ;  it  is  not  the  most  comfortable, 
but  she  never  grumbles.  Then  here  is  our  Sarah  ;  we  are 
obliged  to  humor  her  a  little,  and  give  her  a  room  all  to 
herself.  She  is  young  and  inexperienced,  and  does  n't 
like  to  put  up  with  the  inconveuiences  that  the  Saints 
have  to  bear  with ;  while  old  mother,  here,  has  got  to 
have  half  a  dozen  children  in  her  room,  but  she  never 
complains. ' 

"  '  Why  did  you  not  wait, '  I  said,  '  until  you  had  a 
larger  house  ? ' 

"  'Then  where  would  my  kingdom  be?'  he  answered. 
1  Young  men  may  wait,  but  old  men  must  improve  their 
time.' 

"  There  came  in  now  a  troop  of  children  of  all  ages. 
They  had  been  playing  in  the  lot,  were  miserably  clad, 
barefooted,  and  some  looked  gaunt  and  hungry,  manners 
to  match.      '  There,'  he  said,  with  all  a  father's  fondness, 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  147 

4  these  constitute  my  kingdom,  and  I  am  proud  of 
them.' 

"  I  felt  thankful  that  I  was  not  destined  to  be  queen 
over  such  a  kingdom,  wished  them  good-by,  and  with  a 
sad  heart  went  home  to  my  own  darling  little  ones,  not 
knowing  what  might  be  their  fate. 

"  One  bright  summer  morning,  about  six  months  after 
our  arrival  in  Salt  Lake  City,  I  was  sitting  in  the  work- 
room, busy  with  my  girls,  when  a  light  tap  was  heard  at 
the  door,  and  the  next  instant  a  lady  entered,  and,  coming 
straight  up  to  me,  was  about  to  kiss  me.  I  started  back  a 
step,  held  out  my  hand,  looked  her  full  in  the  face,  and 
in  a  moment  we  were  in  each  other's  arms.  It  was  my  old 
friend,  Mary  Burton  ! 

"  The  whole  expression  of  her  face  was  that  of  one 
whose  heart  was  utterly  crushed  and  broken ;  and  when 
her  eyes  met  mine-,  I  could  hardly  refrain  from  tears  as  I 
saw  the  mournful  look  of  subdued  pain,  which  told  me 
the  terrific  conflict  which  her  heart  had  endured.  I  took 
her  to  my  own  room,  and  again  and  again  I  held  her  in 
my  arms  and  tried  to  comfort  her,  and  at  last  she  wept. 
I  was  glad  to  see  that  passionate  flood  of  tears,  for  I 
knew  that  it  would  relieve  her,  and  in  that  I  was  not 
mistaken.  '  There  is  no  help,  sister  Stenhouse,  no 
comfort  for  me;  I'm  past  all  that,'  she  said.  '  Oh !  I 
could  have  borne  death  a  thousand  times  rather  than 
this.  I  would  gladly  have  seen  my  husband  die  rather 
than  see  him  changed  as  he  is  now.  You  do  not  know, 
sister  Stenhouse,  how  my  whole  soul  was  wrapped  up 
in  that  man,  how  I  almost  worshiped  him.  When  we 
suffered  so  much  together  on  the  Plains,  I  felt  happy  in 
comparison  with  what  I  feel  now.  We  were  getting  over 
the    effects  of  our  sufferings  on  the  Plains,  and   I    was 


148  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

gaining  strength  and  was  looking  forward  to  the  time 
when  my  child  should  be  born.  It  was  then  that  they 
came  and  taught  him  that  devil's  doctrine  and  led  him 
away  from  me.     Oh,  dear  !  it  will  drive  me  mad  !  ' 

"  I  did  not  utter  a  word  ;  my  own  sorrows  were  hidden 
in  my  own  heart.  The  heart  knoweth  its  bitterness, 
and  a  stranger  intermeddleth  not  in  the  matter. 

"  '  We  can  not  help  ourselves  ;  there  is  no  hope,'  she 
said  ;  '  but  it  is  a  cruel  wrong.  You  know  well  enough 
how  determined  I  was  never  to  marry  a  man  who  would 
take  another  wife.  He  solemnly  vowed  to  me  that  he 
never  would  enter  into  polygamy  without  my  consent ; 
which,  of  course,  was  the  same  as  saying  that  he  never 
would  do  so  at  all.' 

"  '  I  reminded  him  of  his  promise,'  she  said,  '  but  he 
told  me  that  the  "  revelation"  justified  him  in  breaking  it. 
I  knelt  down  before  him,  and  I  wept  and  prayed  as  if  for 
life  itself.  I  entreated  him,  if  no  more,  to  wait  and  put 
off  all  thoughts  of  another  marriage  for  a  few  months, 
until  he  had  time  to  consider  the  matter  carefully.  He 
even  told  me  who  it  was  —  a  young  girl  named  Wilbur, 
about  fourteen  years  of  age  —  a  mere  child.  I  asked 
him  if  he  could  be  so  wicked  as  to  perjure  himself  and 
wrong  me  so  foully.' 

"  '  Mary,'  I  said,  '  this  system  is  a  fearful  curse.' 
'  Curse  !  '  she  exclaimed  ;  '  curse  is  a  heavenly  word  to 
apply  to  such  a  system.  Why,  there  is  nothing  in  hell  so 
hateful,  so  vile,  so  detestable.  ...  I  sit  down  and  have 
a  good  cry.  Sometimes  that  is  n't  enough  to  calm  me,  and 
I  shut  the  door  and  walk  up  and  clown  the  room  and  swear. 
There  !  don't  look  so  horrified,  sister  Stenhouse  ;  I  can 
not  help  it.  And  sometimes  I  break  a  few  things,  but  he 
never  knows  it,  and  it  does  me  good.'     She  sat  down  with 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  149 

me  and  told  me  all  her  troubles,  and  I  need  hardly  say 
how  deeply  I  sympathized  with  her.  We  agreed  that  the 
only  way  whereby  we  might  prevent  our  children  from 
experiencing  sorrow  and  misery  similar  to  our  own  was 
to  teach  them  from  the  very  first  that  polygamy  was 
the  natural  and  proper,  as  well  as  the  revealed,  order  of 
marriage  \  in  fact,  to  bring  them  up  in  the  system. 

' '  '  There  are  stories  whispered  here  of  women  who  did 
refuse  to  consent  to  a  second  wife,  and  who  stood  in 
their  husband's  way ;  and  it  is  said  that  the  priesthood 
did  not  wait  for  the  Lord  to  destroy,  but  carried  out  the 
law  themselves.  It  is  nothing  but  a  piece  of  folly  to  talk 
about  women  having  the  power  to  withhold  their  con- 
sent, and  it  is  simply  an  insult  and  a  mockery  for  their 
husbands  to  ask  it ;  they  well  know  before  they  ask  that 
their  wives  dare  not  refuse  to  give  it.  But  it  enables 
them  to  boast  to  the  Gentiles  that  they  do  not  take  other 
wives  until  their  first  wife  gives  her  consent.  Every  one 
knows  perfectly  well  that  this  is  all  a  farce.  He  told 
me  (Mary  Burton)  that  if  I  refused,  it  would  make  not 
the  slightest  difference ;  and  as  I  believed  him,  I,  of 
course,  went  to  his  second  wedding,  and  did  not  make 
a  scene.  It  would  have  only  made  matters  worse. 
When  my  husband  took  his  other  two  wives,  he  did  not 
consult  me  at  all,  but  simply  told  me  that  on  a  certain 
day  I  must  go  with  him  to  the  Endowment  House.  We 
went,  and  he  married  two  sisters  on  the  same  day.  The 
second  wife,  poor  child,  suffered  most  when  he  married 
the  other  two.  She  did  not  seem  to  like  me  very  well  at 
first,  which  was  quite  natural ;  but  when  the  other  two 
were  brought  home,  she  seemed  quite  to  cling  to  me,  and 
I  have,  strange  to  say,  taken  quite  a  fancy  to  her.  In 
all  our   disputes    she   always    sides    with    me,    and    I    in 


150  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

return  always  stand  up  for  her,  as  a  matter  of  course. 
I  am  getting  used  to  this  wretched  life.' 

"  Not  long  after  this.  I  was  enabled  to  visit  my  Swiss 
friend,  Madame  Balif,  for  I  felt  much  interested  in 
learning  how  time  had  passed  with  her  since  we  parted 
in  Geneva,  Switzerland.  I  found  her  in  a  little  log 
cabin  of  two  rooms,  with  bare  walls,  bare  floor,  and 
miserably  furnished  ;  and  in  this  wretched  abode  pov- 
erty and  polygamy  had  wrecked  the  life  of  my  poor 
friend,  whom  I  had  known  under  different  circumstances. 
Here,  together  with  their  five  children,  lived  also  the 
second  wife  with  her  two  children.  It  was  with 
difficulty  that  I  could  recognize  in  the  poor,  careworn, 
broken-spirited  woman  who  stood  before  me,  the  once 
gay,  light-hearted,  happy,  and  elegantly  dressed  lady 
whom  I  had  known  in  Switzerland.  Mormonism  had  in 
her  case  utterly  blighted  her  existence.  What  a  pang  I 
felt  at  the  remembrance  that  I  myself  had  been  instru- 
mental in  leading  her  into  Mormonism  and  polygamy  ! 

"  My  own  life  was  wretched  with  the  one  continual 
fear  of  what  I  might  see  or  hear  of  my  husband.  I 
tried  to  drive  away  such  thoughts.  Arguing  with 
myself  I  said,  '  No,  my  husband  will  be  frank  and  true 
with  me ;  '  but  I  was  destined  to  realize  in  my  own 
experience  how  utterly  impossible  it  is  for  any  man, 
no  matter  how  honest  and  truthful  he  may  naturally  be, 
to  practice  polygamy  without  becoming  a  Irypocrite. 
Mechanically  I  went  through  the  daily  routine  of  duty, 
but  my  heart  was  in  nothing  that  I  did.  I  dared  not 
even  trust  myself  to  speak  to  any  one,  for  the  position  of 
a  '  rebellious  woman  '  in  those  days  was  anything  but 
pleasant.  I  stood  alone.  Upon  my  husband  I  looked 
with  suspicion.       One  evening  when   he  came  home,  he 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  151 

intimated  to  me  that  it  had  been  arranged  that  he  should 
take  another  wife.  The  idea  that  some  day  another 
wife  would  be  added  to  our  household  was  ever  present 
in  my  mind  ;  but  somehow,  when  the  fact  was  placed 
before  me  in  so  many  unmistakable  words,  my  heart 
sank  within  me,  and  I  shrank  from  the  realization  that 
our  home  was  at  last  to  be  desecrated  by  the  foul 
presence  of  polygamy.  I  was  almost  fainting,  now  that 
the  truth  came  home  to  me  in  all  its  startling  reality. 
The  feelings  of  my  heart  naturally  led  me  to  hate  with 
a  most  perfect  hatred  the  very  mention  of  the  word 
polygamy,  while  at  the  same  time  I  still  believed,  or 
tried  to  make  myself  believe,  that  the  'revelation'  was 
from  God,  and  must  therefore  be  obeyed.  Such  was 
the  strange  and  contradictory  position  in  which  I  was 
placed.  From  that  moment  I  felt  like  a  condemned 
criminal  for  whom  there  was  not  a  shadow  of  hope  or 
a  chance  of  escape. 

' '  And  now  began  the  '  painful  task '  of  wooing  the 
young  lady.  My  husband  told  me  that  it  was  '  a  very 
painful  duty,'  and  as  an  obedient  wife  I  was  bound  to 
believe  him.  It  was,  of  course,  no  pleasure  to  him  to 
pay  his  addresses  to  an  interesting  young  girl ;  it  was  no 
anxiety  to  be  with  her  which  made  him  hasten  away  to 
the  damsel's  house  of  an  evening.  Oh,  dear,  no  !  It 
was  pure  principle,  love  for  the  kingdom  of  God,  and 
'  a  very  painful  task  !  ' 

"  He  seemed,  however,  to  bear  it  remarkably  well, 
and  manifested  a  zeal  which  was  perfectly  astonishing  to 
me,  considering  the  circumstances.  In  fact,  I  felt  it  my 
duty  to  restrain  him  a  little  for  the  sake  of  his  health, 
for  he  seemed  so  anxious  to  perform  his  '  task '  prop- 
erly that  he  could  hardly  spare  time  to  take  his  meals  ; 


152  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

but,  regardless  of  his  own  feelings,  he  did  not  pay  much 
attention  to  my  suggestions. 

"  Sometimes  I  shut  myself  up  in  my  own  room  and 
tried  to  reason  with  myself ;  then  I  would  kneel  and 
pray,  and  weep  with  passionate  emotion ;  and  again 
I  would  pace  the  floor,  my  heart  overflowing  with  anger 
and  indignation.  I  longed  to  die.  A  woman  can  nerve 
herself  to  endure  almost  anything,  and  outwardly  she 
may  conceal  her  feelings  ;  but  there  are  limits  beyond 
which  endurance  is  not  possible.  A  chance  meeting  with 
the  girl  who  has  superseded  her  in  her  husband's  love  — 
or  worse  still,  should  she  chance  to  surprise  the  affection- 
ate couple  t&te-h-t&te  —  is  sufficient  to  dispel  all  her  good 
resolutions  and  destroy  that  tranquillity  of  mind  which 
she  finds  it  so  difficult  to  preserve.  She  becomes  sick  at 
heart,  nervous,  and  entirely  unfitted  for  her  duties.  I 
have  frequently  heard  Mormon  women  say  that,  not- 
withstanding their  husbands  had  been  for  many  years 
polygamists,  they  never  could  see  the  other  ivives  without  a 
feeling  of  anger  and  indignation  arising  in  their  hearts. 

"  As  the  time  approached  I  felt  like  a  condemned 
criminal  awaiting  the  day  of  execution.  A  sense  of 
apprehension,  a  dread  of  coming  evil,  was  ever  present 
to  my  mind.  The  dreaded  day  at  length  arrived.  I 
had  spent  a  very  wakeful  and  unhappy  night,  and  felt 
very  sick  and  nervous,  for  I  was  about  to  become  a 
mother,  and  my  health  was  anything  but  strong.  Ever 
since  I  had  first  embraced  Mormonism  I  had  been 
entirely  cut  off  from  Gentile  society.  Tims  it  was  that 
I  never  conversed  freely  with  any  one  who  could  have 
informed  me  truthfully  of  the  origin  of  Mormonism,  and 
consequently  I  brooded  over  my  religion  as  a  melancholy 
fact ;  but,  though  with  moments  of  weakness  and  waver- 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  153 

ing,  I  never  thoroughly  doubted  its  divine  origin.  The 
terrible  sacrifice  which  was  about  to  be  required  of  ine 
might,  I  thought,  be  painful  to  make,  but  it  was  no  less 
the  will  of  God.  I  must  submit,  whatever  the  effort 
might  cost  me.  Utterly  cast  down  and  broken-hearted, 
I  felt  almost  as  if  the  Lord  himself  had  forsaken  me, 
and  there  was  no  one  to  whom  I  could  look  for  aid.  I 
could  not  go  to  my  husband  in  that  hour  for  sympathy. 

"  With  such  feelings  I  went  to  the  Endowment  House. 
There  at  the  altar  I  was  to  give  proof  of  my  obedience 
and  of  my  faith  in  my  religion  by  placing  the  hand  of 
the  new  wife  in  that  of  my  husband.  The  thought  was 
almost  madness.  Brigham  Young  performed  the  cere- 
mony. He  sat  at  the  end  of  the  altar  and  we  three 
knelt  down  —  my  husband  on  one  side,  and  Miss  Pratt 
and  myself  on  the  other.  Speaking  to  me,  Brigham 
Young  said :  '  Are  you  willing  to  give  this  woman  to 
your  husband  to  be  his  lawful  wife  for  time  and  for  all 
eternity?  If  you  are,  you  will  signify  it  by  placing  her 
right  hand  within  the  right  hand  of  your  husband.'  I 
did  so,  but  what  words  can  describe  my  feelings?  The 
anguish  of  a  whole  life-time  was  crowded  into  that  one 
single  moment.  I  had  now  laid  everything  upon  the 
altar  of  sacrifice,  for  I  had  given  away  my  husband. 
What  more  would  the  Lord  require  of  me  that  I  was  not 
prepared  to  do?  I  was  bewildered  and  almost  beside 
myself,  and  yet  I  had  to  hide  my  feelings.  Hope  was 
forever  banished  from  my  life.  To  whom  could  I  look 
for  sympathy  among  those  who  were  around  me  ?  They 
were  most  of  them  men  who  had  ruthlessly  wrecked  the 
lives  and  lacerated  the  hearts  of  hundreds  of  women 
before  my  turn  came,  and  the  sight  of  an  unhappy  wife 
was  so  common  in    their    experience    that    it    was    more 


154  Hie  Mormon  Delusion. 

likely  to  awaken  their  anger  than  their  pity.  I  felt  this 
instinctively,  and  I  resolved  that  they  should  never  know 
how  much  my  poor  heart  was  torn. 

"  From  that  day  I  began  to  hide  all  my  sorrows  from 
my  husband,  and  it  was  but  very  seldom  that  I  uttered 
a  word  of  discontent,  and  when  I  expressed  what  I  felt, 
it  was  in  anger.  But  during  the  remainder  of  the  day, 
how  I  watched  their  looks  and  noticed  every  word  !  To 
me  their  tender  tones  were  daggers,  piercing  my  heart 
and  filling  me  with  a  desire  to  revenge  myself  upon  the 
father  of  my  children.  Oh,  what  fanatics  we  Mormon 
women  have  been  !  I  felt  that  day  that  if  I  could  not 
get  away  by  myself  alone  and  give  expression  to  my 
overcharged  feelings,  I  should  certainly  lose  my  reason. 
I  was  utterly  miserable.  It  was  only  in  the  dead  of 
night,  in  my  own  chamber,  that  I  gave  way  to  the 
terrible  anguish  that  was  consuming  me.  God  and  my 
own  soul  can  alone  bear  witness  to  what  I  suffered  in 
that  time  of  woe.  That  night  was  to  me  such  as  even 
the  most  God-forsaken  might  pray  never  to  know  ;  and 
morning  dawned  without  my  having  for  a  moment 
closed  my  eyes. 

"  I  confess  that  for  my  husband's  intended  bride  I  felt 
such  a  detestation  that  I  could  not  endure  her  presence. 
And  yet  a  visitor  to  our  house  would  have  said,  '  How 
very  pleasantly  those  two  wives  get  along  together !  ' 
This  has  been  said  of  scores  of  women  in  Utah  by 
casual  observers  —  Gentiles  who  thought  they  '  under- 
stood '  the  system.  On  one  occasion,  not  long  after  the 
wedding,  my  husband  asked  me  to  take  a  walk  with 
him,  and  I  consented.  When  I  came  out  of  my  room 
ready  dressed,  I  found  him  and  his  wife,  Belinda,  wait- 
ing and  chatting  pleasantly  together,  and  looking  unut- 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  155 

terable  love  at  each  other  —  a,t  least,  I  thought  so — and 
I  felt  greatly  insulted  and  annoyed,  and  told  them  I  did 
not  wish  to  go.  My  refusal  appeared  to  be  just  what 
they  wanted.  They  tripped  off  together  as  light-hearted 
and  happy  as  children,  while  I  remained  rooted  to  the 
spot,  tearing  my  pocket  handkerchief  to  pieces  and  wish- 
ing I  could  do  the  same  with  them. 

"I  was  now  upon  an  equal  footing  with  other  first 
wives.  They  had,  therefore,  no  hesitation  in  confiding 
to  me  their  griefs ;  and,  situated  as  I  was,  I  had 
abundant  opportunities  of  hearing  stories  of  cruelty, 
wrong,  and  suffering,  under  the  '  celestial '  system, 
many  of  them  so  utterly  revolting  that  I  would  not 
dream  of  relating  them  again.  Polygamy  among  the 
Mormons  is  so  full  of  disgusting  and  disgraceful  details 
that  a  modest   woman  would    not   dare  to  relate  them. 

"  We  had  lived  together  in  polygamy  about  a  year, 
when  my  husband  told  me  that  his  young  wife  desired  to 
have  a  home  of  her  own,  and  that  he  intended  to  provide 
her  with  one.  This  was  very  pleasant  intelligence  to  me  ; 
for  the  sight  of  that  other  wife  constantly  before  my 
eyes,  sitting  at  my  table,  in  the  midst  of  my  family, 
walking  in  the  garden  with  my  husband  in  the  evening, 
or  t&te-h-t&te  with  him  in  the  parlor,  was  more  than  I 
could  bear.  This,  however,  was  all  changed  when  my 
husband  established  a  second  home.  I  did  not  mind 
being  deprived  of  his  society  so  long  as  I  could  get  rid 
of  her:  her  presence  was  painful  to  me,  and  when  she 
was  near  me  I  hardly  felt  able  to  breathe. 

"  Not  long  after,  I  received  another  visit  from  a 
talkative  friend.  '  You  '11  be  surprised,  sister  Sten- 
house,'  she  said,  '  to  see  me  looking  so  utterly  miserable. 
You  don't  know  what  I  have   been  suffering,    and   how 


156  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

shamefully  I  have  been  used.  I  never  thought  I  should 
come  to  this.  I  hate  every  man  in  the  place,  and  I 
detest  my  husband  most  of  all,  and  I  loathe  his  wives, 
and  I  execrate  brother  Brig —  Why,  he  married  that 
wretched  little  shrimp  of  a  girl,  with  blue  eyes  and  red 
hair,  and  a  die-away,  lackadaisical  manner.  It  was  he, 
my  husband  Henry  ;  he  married  her  this  very  day.  If 
that  miserable  little  minx  had  had  black  hair  or  green 
eyes,  I  daresay  Henry  would  not  have  cared  two  straws 
about  her,  unless  he  had  done  it  out  of  sheer  perversity, 
for  all  men  are  made  of  the  same  contrary  stuff.  But  he 
dotes  on  blue  eyes  ;  I  heard  him  myself  tell  her  so  one 
day,  when  I  was  listening  to  them  through  the  crack  of 
the  door,  and  they  did  n't  know  I  was  so  near.  But  my 
wounded  feeling  would  not  suffer  me  to  remain  silent, 
and  I  bounced  in  and  said  I,  "  Henry,  how  dare  you 
talk  such  outrageous  nonsense  to  that  child  in  my 
presence  ?  " 

"  '  "  But  I  didn't  know  you  were  present,"  he  said. 

'""I  tell  you,"  said  I,  "  I'm  quite  disgusted  with  you 
—  a  man  with  three  wives,  and  me  one  of  them,  to  go 
talking  twaddle  to  a  little  chattering  hussy  like  that,  with 
her  cat's  eyes  and  her  red  hair  !  " 

"  '  "  Golden  hair,  my  dear,"  he  said,  "  Charlotte's  hair 
is  golden." 

"  '  "I  say  red !  It 's  straight,  staring  red,  as  red  as  red 
can  be,"  I  told  him  ;  and  then  we  had  a  regular  fight  over 
it.  I  don't  mean  that  we  came  to  blows,  but  we  had  some 
hot  words,  and  he  went  out  and  left  us  two  alone.  Then 
that  young  hussy  was  impudent,  and  I  don't  know  how 
it  was,  but  somehow,  when  we  left  off  our  conversation, 
I  found  some  of  Charlotte's  red  hair  between  my  fingers  ; 
and    there,'  she    said,    innocently,    holding    out    quite    a 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  157 

respectable  sized  tuft  of  auburn  hair,  — '  there  ;  I  put  it 
to  you,  sister  Stenhouse,  is  that  red  or  is  it  not? ' 

"In  polygamy  love  dies  a  natural  death;  and  it  is 
galling  to  a  woman's  pride  to  have  it  said  that  she  has 
been  cast  off  for  another.  When  a  man  has  several 
wives,  there  is  no  necessity  for  him  to  stay  with  an 
unhappy  or  mopish  one,  as  he  can  always  find  a  more 
pleasant  reception  elsewhere.  He  has  no  home;  his 
houses  are  simply  boarding-places.  When  the  wives 
are  all  in  one  house,  each  is  watching  the  others,  and 
they  know  it,  trying  to  discover  something  that  can 
secretly  be  told  to  the  husband  to  draw  his  affections 
away  from  the  rest. 

"  In  the  early  days  in  Utah  polygamists  were  glad 
enough  to  get  even  one  roof  for  their  families,  but  as 
they  grew  into  better  circumstances  some  would  provide 
a  house  for  each  wife,  while  others,  however  wealthy 
they  might  be,  would  keep  all  their  wives  in  one  house. 
Poor  men  always  keep  their  plural  wives  in  one  house 
with  two  or  more  front  doors,  or  in  separate  hovels  in  the 
same  yard.  Some  Mormons  with  several  wives  pass 
frequently  and  with  no  regularity  from  one  house  to  the 
other ;  while  others  spend  a  week  at  one  house,  or  in 
the  apartments  of  one  wife  (if  they  all  live  under  one 
roof) ,   then  a   week  with  another,  and  so  on. 

"  In  every  settlement  in  Utah  long,  low-roofed  houses 
may  be  seen  with  a  row  of  front  doors  and  windows 
alternating.  To  every  door  and  window  there  is  of 
course  one  wife  ;  and  the  furniture  of  her  room  consists 
of  a  bed,  three  chairs,  and  a  table.  Then  if  the  devout 
Mormon  wishes  to  add  another  wife  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  long,  many-doored  house,  a  wagon  box  is  so  arranged 
as  to  form  a  sleeping  apartment  for  the  new-comer ;  or, 


158  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

what  is  more  likely,  one  of  the  old  wives  is  put  into  the 
wagon  box,  and  the  new  one  takes  her  place.  Man}7 
men  live  with  two,  three,  and  even  four  wives,  with  all 
their  children,  under  one  roof,  in  one  room,  in  the 
most  disgraceful  and  barbarous  manner.  The  com- 
mand of  the  leaders,  '  Build  up  the  kingdom,'  '  build 
up  the  kingdom,'  —  in  other  words,  take  many  wives 
and  raise  large  families,  —  has  been  so  constantly 
insisted  upon  that  good  sense  and  propriety  have 
been  entirely  overcome.  When  there  are  only  two 
apartments,  the  husband,  if  not  in  one,  is  supposed  to  be 
in  the  other,  and  the  neglected  wife  frequently  expresses 
her  opinion  of  her  rival  in  the  opposite  room  in  very 
powerful  language.  Scenes  may  be  witnessed  in  such 
households  which  are  too  shocking  to  disclose.  Brigham 
Young  was  conscious  of  this  when  he  said  he  '  would 
stand  no  more  fighting  and  scratching  around  him.' 
With  many  wives  living  together  in  a  large  house  there 
are  many  advantages.  The  whereabouts  of  the  husband 
is  not  so  easily  discovered,  and  the  unhappy  or  jealous 
wife  is  at  a  loss  to  know  upon  whom  to  vent  her  ire. 
On  this  account  even  men  with  small  means  prefer  to 
have  three  wives  instead  of  two,  as  each  wife,  not  know- 
ing which  of  the  other  two  she  ought  to  hate  the  most, 
divides  her  jealousy.  It  takes,  however,  a  wise  man  to 
know  how  to  live  in  polygamy  so  as  to  balance  all  the 
conflicting  interests  and  obtain  a  little  peace,  if  happiness 
is  out  of  the  question. 

"It  would  be  quite  impossible,  with  any  regard  to 
propriety,  to  relate  all  the  horrible  results  of  this  dis- 
graceful system.  It  has  debased  the  minds  and  de- 
graded the  lives  of  good  and  honest  men  and  women,  while 
those  who   naturally  had   a  tendency   towards  evil  have 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  159 

become  a  hundred  times  worse.  Marriages  have  been 
contracted  between  the  nearest  relatives  ;  and  old  men 
tottering  on  the  brink  of  the  grave  have  been  united  to 
little  girls  scarcely  in  their  teens  ;  while  unnatural  alli- 
ances of  every  description,  which  in  any  other  commu- 
nity would  be  regarded  with  disgust  and  abhorrence,  are 
here  entered  into  in  the  name  of  Glod,  and  under  the 
sanction  of  a  '  revelation '  supposed  to  proceed  from  the 
pure  and  holy  Saviour. 

"It  is  quite  a  common  thing  in  Utah  for  a  man  to 
marry  two  and  even  three  sisters.  I  was  well  acquainted 
with  one  man  who  married  his  half-sister,  and  I  know 
several  who  have  married  mother  and  daughter.  I  know 
also  another  man  who  married  a  widow  with  several 
children  ;  and  when  one  of  the  girls  had  grown  into  her 
teens,  he  insisted  on  marrying  her  also,  having  first  by 
some  means  won  her  affections.  The  mother,  however, 
was  much  opposed  to  this  marriage,  and  finally  gave  up 
her  husband  entirely  to  her  daughter,  and  the  daughter 
bears  children  to  her  step-father,  living  as  wife  in  the 
same  house  with  her  mother. 

"In  another  instance,  a  well-known  man  in  Salt  Lake 
City,  who  has  several  wives  and  married  daughters, 
married  a  young  girl  of  fifteen  years  of  age  whom  his 
wife  had  adopted  and  brought  up  as  her  own. 

"  Quite  a  number  of  the  leading  Mormons  have  wives 
in  the  various  settlements  ;  and  this  is  very  convenient  to 
them  if  they  have  to  travel  much.  If  the  wives  are  old 
and  experienced,  as  wives  who  are  sent  into  the  country 
generally  are,  they  can  then  look  after  and  manage  a 
farm ;  and  if  they  have  growing  boys,  the  farm  can  be 
worked  upon  a  very  economical  plan.  The  younger  wives 
in  the  city  can  be  supplied  from  them  with  all  the  butter, 


160  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

cheese,  vegetables,  etc.,  that  they  require.  It  takes  con- 
siderable shrewdness  to  manage  women  in  such  a  way  as 
to  turn  all  their  abilities  to  good  account  and  to  make 
them  profitable. 

ik  Before  we  left  England,  when  speaking  of  the  cere- 
monies of  passing  through  the  Endowment  House,  my 
husband  told  me  that  they  were  simply  a  privilege  and  a 
matter  of  choice.  But  what  a  choice  !  I  might  go  or 
refuse  to  go ;  but  he  must  then  take  another  wife  in  my 
place,  and,  as  I  knew,  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in 
finding  one.  I  should,  in  consequence,  be  known  as  a 
rebellious  woman ;  annoyance  and  indignity  would  be 
heaped  upon  me  ;  while  within  my  own  home  I  should  be 
compelled  to  occupy  the  position  of  second  wife,  as  the 
one  who  is  married  first  in  the  Endowment  House  is 
considered  the  first  wife,  and  has  the  control  of  every- 
thing. My  husband  told  me  that  it  was  an  honor  for 
which  many  people  had  waited  for  years.  My  husband 
reminded  me  that  we  had  been  married  by  a  Gentile  and 
while  living  among  Gentiles,  and  that,  as  I  said  before, 
our  marriage  was  not  valid,  and  our  children  were  not 
legitimate.  Only  those  children  of  ours  who  were  born 
after  the  ceremony  in  the  Endowment  House  would  be 
legitimate  ;  the  others  were  outcasts  from  the  '  kingdom, ' 
unless  we  adopted  them  after  our  initiation,  and  thus  made 
them  heirs.  So  I  agreed  to  go,  trying  to  persuade 
myself  that  it  was  a  sacred  duty.   .   .   . 

"  Thus  we  passed  through  the  mysteries  of  the  Endow- 
ment House,  and  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we 
found  ourselves  at  liberty  to  return  home.  The  various 
ceremonies  had  occupied  eight  hours!  When  we  reached 
home,  my  husband  said  :  k  Well,  what  do  you  think  of 
the  endowments?'     But  I  did  not  dare    to   answer    him 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  161 

truthfully  at  that  time.  Had  I  done  so,  I  should  have 
told  him  that  I  was  ashamed  and  disgusted.  Never  in 
all  my  life  did  I  suffer  such  humiliation  as  I  did  that 
dav." 


CHAPTER   VIII.1 

BLOOD    ATONEMENT.  REIGN    OF    TERROR.  MOUNTAIN 

MEADOWS    MASSACRE. 

THE  people  of  Utah  were  now  thoroughly  excited. 
Their  religious  antipathy,  their  political  hatred  had 
been  appealed  to,  and  both  in  public  and  private  had  they 
been  stirred  up  to  a  pitch  of  frenzy  which  is  hardly  pos- 
sible at  the  present  time  to  comprehend.  There  were 
whisperings  now  of  a  most  fearful  doctrine,  calculated 
not  only  to  strike  terror  into  the  hearts  of  those  whose 
faith  was  weakening,  but  even  to  shock  with  a  sense  of 
horror  those  who  only  heard  of  it  from  afar.  I  mean  the 
doctrine  of  the  Blood  Atonement. 

"  This  was  the  doctrine  that  certain  sins  can  not  be 
forgiven  here  on  earth  —  even  the  blood  of  Christ  does 
not  avail  to  atone  for  them.  Shedding  innocent  blood  ; 
divulging  the  secrets  of  the  Endowment  House  ;  marital 
unfaithfulness  on  the  part  of  the  wife;  leaving  the  Mor- 
mon Church,  —  these  are  unpardonable.  Only  the  shed- 
ding of  the  blood  of  the  person  committing  these  sins  will 
atone  for  them  and  save  him.  It  is  to  this  day  a  matter  of 
fact  that  if  any  apostate  from  the  Mormons  were  to  com- 

iA  large  part  of  this  chapter  is  a  continuation  of    Mrs.  Stenhouse's 
narrative. 


J  G2  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

mit  any  of  the  unpardonable  sins,  and  were  to  be  assassi- 
nated, all  zealous  Mormon  leaders  would  maintain  not 
only  that  the  deed  was  justifiable,  but  even  meritorious  ! 
This  seems  bad  enough,  but  it  is  not  the  worst.  The 
doctrine  of  Blood  Atonement  is  that  the  murder  of  an 
apostate,  that  is,  one  who  has  left  the  Mormon  Church, 
is  a  deed  of  love!  If  a  Saint  sees  another  leave  the 
church,  or  if  he  only  believes  his  brother's  faith  is 
weakening,  he  knows  that  only  by  his  brother's  blood 
being  shed  is  there  any  chance  of  forgiveness  for  him ; 
it  is  therefore  the  kindest  action  that  he  can  perform  to 
his  brother  to  shed  his  blood !  It  is  making  atonement  — 
not  a  crime. 

"  That  such  doctrines  have,  over  and  over  again,  been 
distinctly  taught  in  the  plainest  words  in  the  public 
hearing  of  thousands  ;  that  they  have  been  printed  and 
reprinted  by  authority ;  that  they  have  been  practiced, 
and  the  very  highest  of  the  Mormon  leaders  have 
applauded ;  and  that,  even  at  the  present  moment, 
these  doctrines  form  a  part  of  the  dogmas  of  the 
church,  are  evidenced  by  the  following :  — 

"  Jedediah  M.  Grant  said  in  a  sermon  in  the  taber- 
nacle on  this  subject :  — 

I  would  advise  some  of  you  men  here  to  go  to  President 
Young  and  confess  your  sins,  and  ask  him  to  take  you  outside 
the  city  and  have  your  blood  shed  to  atone  for  your  sins. 
There  are  men  and  women  that  I  would  advise  to  go  to  the 
president  immediately,  and  ask  him  to  appoint  a  committee  to 
attend  to  their  case ;  and  then  let  the  place  be  selected  and  let 
that  committee  shed  their  blood.  .  .  . 

I  would  ask  how  many  covenant-breakers  there  are  in  this 
city  and  in  this  kingdom?  I  believe  that  there  are  a  great 
many ;  and  if  they  are  covenant-breakers,  we  need  a  place 
designated    where   we  can    shed    their    blood.  .  .  .  We    have 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  163 

been  trying  long  enough  with  this  people,  and  I  go  in  for 
letting  the  sword  of  the  Almighty  be  unsheathed  not  only 
in  word  but  in  deed. 

What  ought  this  meek  people,  who  keep  the  commandments 
of  God,  to  do  unto  them?  "  Why,"  says  one,  kithey  ought  to 
pray  the  Lord  to  kill  them."  I  want  to  know  if  you  would 
wish  the  Lord  to  come  down  and  do  all  your  dirty  work?  .  .  . 
When  a  man  prays  for  a  thing,  he  ought  to  be  willing  to 
perform  it  himself.  .  .  .  Putting  to  death  the  transgressors 
would  exhibit  the  law  of  God,  no  matter  by  whom  it  was  done. 

"  Brigham  Young,  in  a  discourse  delivered  in  the 
Bowery,  Great  Salt  Lake,  and  afterwards  reprinted  by 
authority  in  the  Journals  of  Discourses,  said  :  — 

There  are  sins  that  men  commit  for  which  they  can  not 
receive  forgiveness  in  this  world  or  in  that  which  is  to  come; 
and  if  they  had  their  eyes  opened  to  see  their  true  condition, 
they  would  be  perfectly  willing  to  have  their  blood  spilt  upon 
the  ground,  that  the  smoke  thereof  might  ascend  to  heaven  as 
an  offering  for  their  sins,  and  the  smoking  incense  would 
atone  for  their  sins. 

I  know  when  you  hear  my  brethren  telling  about  cutting 
people  off  from  the  earth  that  you  consider  it  is  strong  doc- 
trine; but  it  is  to  save  them,  not  to  destroy  them.  ...  I  have 
had  men  come  to  me  and  offer  their  lives  to  atone  for  their 
sins. 

It  is  true  that  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God  was  shed  for  sins 
through  the  fall  and  those  committed  by  men,  yet  men  can 
commit  sins  which  it  can  never  remit,  but  they  must  be  atoned 
for  by  the  blood  of  the  man. 

When  will  we  love  our  neighbors  as  ourselves?  Now  take 
a  person  in  this  congregation  who  has  committed  a  sin 
that  he  knows  will  deprive  him  of  that  exaltation  which  he 
desires,  and  that  he  can  not  attain  to  it  without  the  shedding 
of  his  blood,  and  also  knows  that  by  having  his  blood  shed 
he  will  atone  for  that  sin ;  is  there  a  man  or  woman  in  this 
house  but  would  say,  "  Shed  my  blood  that  1  might  be  saved 
and  exalted  with  the  gods"?    Will  you  love  your  brothers 


164  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

or  sisters  likewise  when  they  have  a  sin  that  can  not  be  atoned 
for  without  the  shedding  of  their  blood  ?  Will  you  love  that 
man  or  woman  well  enough  to  shed  their  blood  V  That  is 
what  Jesus  Christ  meant.  He  never  told  a  man  or  woman  to 
love  their  enemies  in  their  wickedness,  never. 

I  could  refer  you  to  plenty  of  instances  where  men  have  been 
righteously  slain  in  order  to  atone  for  their  sins.  I  have  seen 
scores  and  hundreds  of  people  for  whom  there  would  have 
been  a  chance  if  their  lives  had  been  taken  and  their  blood 
spilled  on  the  ground  as  a  smoking  incense  to  the  Almighty, 
but  who  are  now  angels  to  the  devil. 

1  have  known  a  great  many  men  who  have  left  this  church, 
for  whom  there  is  no  chance  whatever  of  exaltation,  but  if 
their  blood  had  been  spilled  it  would  have  been  better  for 
them.  This  is  loving  our  neighbor  as  ourselves :  if  he  needs 
help,  help  him ;  if  he  needs  salvation,  and  it  is  necessary  to 
spill  his  blood  on  the  earth  in  order  that  he  may  be  saved,  spill 
it.  .  .  .  That  is  the  way  to  love  mankind. 

Now,  brethren  and  sisters,  will  you  live  jrour  religion?  How 
many  hundreds  of  times  have  I  asked  that  question  !  Will  the 
Latter  Day  Saints  live  their  religion  ? 

t;  And  so,  according  to  Brigham  Young,  their  prophet, 
this  was  the  religion  of  the  Saints  !  And  the  people  acted 
up  to  the  '  religion '  thus  taught ;  and  the  story  is  so 
terrible  that  one  dare  not  even  whisper  all  its  details. 

"  It  is  no  secret  that  all  this  was  understood  literally. 
The  wife  of  one  elder,  when  he  was  absent  on  a  mission, 
acted  unfaithfully  toward  him.  Her  husband  took  coun- 
sel of  the  authorities,  and  was  reminded  that  the  shedding 
of  her  blood  alone  could  save  her.  He  returned  and 
told  her,  but  she  asked  for  time,  which  was  readily 
granted.  One  day,  in  a  moment  of  affection,  when  she 
was  seated  on  his  knee,  he  reminded  her  of  her  doom, 
and  suggested  that  now  when  their  hearts  were  full  of 
love  was  a  suitable  time  for  carrying  it  into  execution. 
She  acquiesced,  and  out  of  love  he  cut  her  throat  from 
ear  to  ear. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  165 

"  In  many  instances  the  outrages  committed  against 
persons  who  were  known  to  be  innocent  were  so  revolting 
that  no  woman,  nay,  even  no  right-minded  man,  would 
venture  to  do  more  than  just  allude  to  them.  A  few, 
however,  and  only  a  few,  and  the}'  by  no  means  the  worst, 
of  the  milder  cases  I  will  just  mention. 

"  There  was  the  murder  of  the  Aikin  party,  six  persons, 
who  were  killed  on  their  way  to  California.  The  same 
year  a  man  named  Yates  was  killed  under  atrocious 
circumstances ;  and  Franklin  McNeil,  who  had  sued 
Brigham  for  false  imprisonment  and  was  killed  at  his 
hotel  door.  There  was  Sergeant  Pike,  and  there  were 
Arnold  and  Drown.  There  were  Price  and  William 
Bryan  at  Fairfield  ;  there  were  Almon  Babbitt,  and 
Brassfield,  and  Dr.  Robinson ;  there  were  also  James 
Cowdy  and  his  wife  and  child,  and  Margetts  and  his 
wife  ;  and  many  another,  too,  to  say  nothing  of  that 
frightful  murder  at  the   Mountain  Meadows. 

"Besides  these,  there  is  good  reason  to  think  that 
Lieutenant  Gunnison  and  his  party  were  also  victims, 
although  it  was  said  that  they  were  shot  by  '  Indians.' 
The  Potter  and  Parrish  murders  were  notorious  ;  Forbes, 
and  Jones  and  his  mother,  might  be  added  to  the  same 
list ;  the  dumb  boy,  Andrew  Bernard  ;  a  woman  killed  by 
her  own  husband  ;  Morris,  the  rival  prophet,  and  Banks, 
and  four  women  who  belonged  to  their  party ;  Isaac 
Potter  and  Charles  Wilson  and  John  Walker.  These 
are  but  a  few.  The  death  list  is  too  long  for  me  to 
venture  to  give  it. 

"  These  were  all  well-known  and  notorious  instances. 
I  say  nothing  of  those  of  whose  fate  nothing,  not  even 
a  whisper,  was  ever  heard  ;  and  I  say  nothing  of  the 
frightful  '  cuttings  off '  before  the  reformation  and  in 
recent  years. 


166  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

"  Gentile  men  and  women  were  killed,  for  hatred  ;  and 
that  '  killing '  was  no  murder,  for  theirs  was  not  innocent 
blood.  Apostates  and  Saints  of  doubtful  faith,  and 
those  who  were  obnoxious,  had  their  blood  shed  all  for 
love,  and  that  '  cutting  off '  was  also  no  murder  because 
to  secure  their  salvation  by  cutting  their  throats  was  an 
act  of  mercy. 

"  All  through  the  Reign  of  Terror,  marrying  and  giv- 
ing in  marriage  was  the  order  of  the  day.  It  mattered 
not  if  a  man  was  seventy  years  of  age ;  according  to 
Brother  Brigham  he  was  still  a  boy,  — '  the  brethren  are 
all  boys  until  they  are  a  hundred  years  old,'  —  and  some 
young  girl  of  sixteen,  fifteen,  or  even  younger  would  be 
'counseled,'  that  is,  commanded,  to  marry  him.  She 
might  even  have  a  sister  no  older  than  herself,  and  then 
as  likely  as  not  he  would  take  the  two  to  wife,  and  very 
probably  both  on  the  same  day.  The  girls  were  told 
that  to  marry  a  young  man  was  not  a  safe  thing,  for 
young  men  were  not  tried  ;  it  was  better  to  marry  a  well- 
tested  patriarch,  and  then  their  chances  of  '  exaltation ' 
in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  were  sure  and  certain.  In  this 
way  the  life-long  happiness  of  many  a  girl,  little  more 
than  a  child,  was  blighted  forever.  At  the  time  of 
which  I  speak,  every  unmarried  woman,  or  girl  who 
could  by  the  utmost  stretch  of  possibility  be  thought  old 
enough  to  marry,  was  forced  to  find  a  husband,  or  a 
husband  was  immediately  found  for  her,  and  without  any 
regard  to  her  wishes  was  forced  upon  her.  Young  men, 
and  even  boys,  were  forced,  not  only  into  marriage,  but 
even  into  polygamy,  and  none  dared  resist.  The  marrying 
mania  in  fact  was  universal  and  irresistible  ;  every  one 
must  marry  or  be  given  in  marriage.  So  evidently  was 
this  the  case  that  women  in  jest  said  that  if  one  were  to 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  16  / 

hang  a  petticoat  upon  a  fence-pole,  half  a  dozen  men 
would  flock  at  once  to  marry  it !  Absurd  as  this  may 
seem,  it  was  not  very  far  from  the  truth.  Young  men 
and  maidens,  old  men  and  children,  widows,  virgins,  and 
youths,  in  fact,  every  one,  whether  married  or  unmarried, 
it  mattered  not,  was  '  counseled,'  commanded,  to  marry. 
Even  during  that  strange  time  in  which  every  Saint 
seemed  to  have  gone  stark  crazy  mad,  the  frightful 
anomaly  of  men  of  fifty,  sixty,  and  even  seventy,  marry- 
ing mere  children,  girls  of  fourteen  and  even  thirteen, 
forced  itself  upon  the  attention  of  some  of  the  leaders. 
The  question  arose,  an  odd  question  to  Gentile  ears, 
'  At  what  age  is  a  girl  old  enough  to  marry  ?  '  Consider- 
able discussion  ensued,  and  even  in  the  tabernacle  the 
question  was  taken  up.  The  voice  of  authority,  how- 
ever, eventually  answered  the  matter,  but  not  in  the  way 
that  any  ordinary  civilized  person  would  expect.  I  am 
afraid  that  the  reader  will  think  that  I  exaggerate  or 
misrepresent  facts.  I  wish  it  were  so,  for  the  case  is  so 
outrageously  atrocious  ;  but  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  scores 
and  hundreds  of  instances  similar  to  this,  which  occurred 
during  the  reformation,  might  be  given. 

"There  are  before  me,  as  I  write,  letters,  papers, 
documents  of  various  sorts  relative  to  marriage  and  the 
matrimonial  affairs  of  the  Saints  at  the  time  of  which  I 
speak,  that  I  wish  the  reader  could  peep  at.  I  would 
not  like  him  to  read  them  ;  in  fact,  I  dared  not  read  them 
all  myself,  for  some  of  them  are  so  shameful  that  the 
mere  knowledge  of  having  read  them  through  would 
make  any  right-minded  person  blush.  Taking  more 
wives  was  the  order  of  the  day ;  how,  was  of  little 
matter. 

' '  The   work  of  the  reformation   was  in  full  progress  ; 


168  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

the  people  were  excited  to  frenzy  ;  the  federal  troops 
were  expected  ;  men  were  marrying  and  maidens  were 
given  in  marriage  ;  every  one  in  Utah  was  looking  for- 
ward to  the  time  when  the  prophecies  of  Joseph  the 
Seer  should  be  fulfilled,  and  the  Son  of  man  should 
come  :  and  then,  when  one  would  have  supposed  that 
eve^  man  would  have  wished  that  his  hands  should  be 
pure,  was  perpetrated  a  deed  which  is  unparalleled  in 
modern  civilized  times  —  a  deed  at  which  angels  and  men 
have  stood  aghast  with  horror." 

The  doctrine  of  Blood  Atonement  had  borne  its 
fruit  in  a  hundred  places  in  Utah.  There  had  been  the 
secret  assassination  of  Gentiles,  the  "cutting  off"  of 
"apostates"  in  hours  of  darkness;  private  vengeances 
had  been  assuaged  in  blood;  "the  Indians  had  killed" 
those  whom  the  air  whispered  had  offended  Brigham  or 
some  officer  of  the  church  ;  some,  it  was  said,  "  fell  off  a 
mountain  precipice;"  others  strangely  "disappeared;" 
and  still  others  went  on  journeys  which  had  no  end. 
Murder  stalked  abroad,  vengeance  filled  the  air.  The 
only  safety  was  in  silent  and  implicit  obedience  to  the 
every  wish  ("counsel")  of  Brigham  and  his  high 
officers.  Under  cover  of  this  doctrine  of  blood,  he  who 
did  not  yield  his  money  or  business,  or  betrothed  or  wife 
to  the  "  counsel  "  of  the  covetous  higher  officer  was  way- 
laid, and  none  dare  ask  too  many  questions  concerning 
him.  The  murderous  poison  of  this  doctrine  spread 
throughout  Utah.  Its  culmination  was  the  "Mountain 
Meadows  Massacre  "  —  the  most  horrid  crime  that  stains 
the  American  continent. 

One  of  the  causes  that  led  up  to  it  was  that  Parley  P. 
Pratt,  a  high  officer  in  the  Mormon  Church,  while  on  a 
"mission"  in  Arkansas,  ran  off  with  the  wife  of  a  Mr. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  169 

McLean.  The  injured  husband  caught  up  with  the 
fleeing  pair  and  shot  down  the  despoiler  of  his  home. 
The  Mormons  were  greatly  incensed  at  this  resentment 
of  their  right  to  "  prey  upon  the  Gentiles,"  and  nursed 
hatred  against  all  people  from  Arkansas.  The  main 
features  of  this  massacre  shall  be  told  in  the  words  of 
Mrs.   Stenhouse  :  — 

"  I  feel  myself  utterly  incompetent  to  tell  the  story  of 
the  Mountain  Meadows  Massacre,  it  is  so  shocking,  so 
fiend-like.     And  yet  it  must  be  told. 

"  While  the  work  of  reformation,  that  is,  the  so-called 
reforming  of  the  Mormon  Church,  was  going  on,  and 
when  the  United  States  troops  were  constantly  expected 
in  the  valley  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  a  large  train  of  emi- 
grants from  Arkansas  came  into  Utah  on  its  way  to  Cali- 
fornia. They  were  one  hundred  and  twenty  people,  hard- 
working, plain  folks,  but  well-to-do,  and,  taken  all  in  all, 
about  as  respectable  a  band  of  emigrants  as  ever  passed 
through  Salt  Lake  City. 

"  They  traveled  along  in  the  most  orderly  fashion.  On 
Sunday  they  rested,  and  one  of  their  number  conducted 
divine  service.  All  went  well  until  they  reached  Salt 
Lake  City,  but  it  was  there  that  they  first  discovered  that 
feeling  of  enmity  which  finally  resulted  in  their  destruction. 

u  Weary  and  footsore  they  encamped  by  the  Jordan 
River,  trusting  there  to  recruit  themselves  and  their 
teams,  and  to  replenish  their  stock  of  provisions. 
Brigham  Young  was  then  governor  of  Utah  Territory, 
commander-in-chief  of  the  militia,  and  Indian  agent  as 
well :  he  was  therefore  responsible  for  all  that  took  pkice 
within  his  jurisdiction.  These  emigrants  were  ordered 
to  break  up  their  camp  and  move  on  ;  and  it  is  said  that 
written  instructions  were  sent  on  before  them,  directing 


1 1  0  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

the  people  in  the  settlements  through  which  they  would 
have  to  pass  to  have  no  dealings  with  them. 

"  Compelled  to  travel  on,  they  pursued  their  journey 
slowly  towards  Los  Angeles.  At  American  Fork  they 
wished  to  trade  off  some  of  their  worn-out  stock  and  to 
purchase  fresh ;  they  also  desired  to  obtain  provisions. 
There  was  abundance  of  everything  from  the  farm  and 
from  the  field,  for  God  had  very  greatly  blessed  the  land 
that  year ;  but  they  could  obtain  nothing.  They  passed 
on,  and  Avent  through  Battle  Creek,  Provo,  Springville, 
Spanish  Fork,  Payson,  Salt  Creek,  and  Fillmore,  and 
their  reception  was  still  the  same.  The  word  of  the 
Mormon  pontiff  had  gone  forth,  and  no  man  dared  to 
trade  with  them.  Now  and  then  some  Mormon,  weak 
in  the  faith  or  braver  or  more  fond  of  money  than  his 
fellows,  would  steal  into  the  camp,  in  the  darkness  of 
the  night,  bearing  with  him  just  what  he  was  able  to 
carry ;  but  beyond  this  they  could  obtain  nothing.  Their 
only  hope  now  lay  in  the  chance  of  holding  out  until 
they  could  push  through  to  some  Gentile  settlement. 
Through  fifteen  different  Mormon  settlements  did  they 
pass,  without  being  able  to  purchase   a  morsel  of  bread. 

"  At  Beaver  they  were  again  repulsed,  and  at  Parowan 
they  were  not  permitted  to  enter  the  town  ;  they  were 
forced  to  leave  the  public  highway  and  pass  round. 

"  At  Cedar  City  they  were  allowed  to  purchase  fifty 
bushels  of  tithing  wheat,  and  to  have  it  ground  at  the 
mill  of  that  infamous  scoundrel  John  D.  Lee,  upon  whose 
memory  will  rest  the  eternal  curses  of  all  who  have 
ever  heard  his  name.  The  sellers  of  this  wheat  knew 
well  enough  even  then  that  it  would  return  to  them 
again  in  the  course  of  a  few  days. 

"  They  remained  in  Cedar  City  only  one  day,  and  so 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  171 

jaded  were  their  teams  that  it  took  them  three  days  to 
travel  thence  to  Iron  Creek,  a  distance  of  twenty  miles  ; 
and  two  days  were  occupied  in  journeying  fifteen  miles, 
the  distance  between  Iron  Creek  and  the  Meadows. 

u  The  morning  after  they  left  Iron  Creek,  the  Mormon 
militia  followed  them  in  pursuit,  intending,  it  is  sup- 
posed, to  assault  them  at  Clara  Crossing.  That  this  was 
done  by  authority  is  evident  from  the  sworn  testimony  to 
the  effect  that  the  assembling  of  those  troops  was  the 
result  of  '  a  regular  militia  call  from  the  superior  officers 
to  the  subordinate  officers  and  privates  of  the  regiments. 
.  .  .  Said  regiment  teas  duly  ordered  to  muster,  armed 
and  equipped  as  the  law  directs,  and  prepared  for  field 
operations.''  A  regular  military  council  was  held  at 
Parowan,  at  which  were  present  President  Isaac  C. 
Haight,  the  Mormon  high  priest  of  southern  Utah, 
Colonel  Dame,  Major  John  D.  Lee,  and  the  apostle 
George  A.  Smith. 

"  Brigham  Young  was  in  this  case  the  superior  author- 
ity ;  he  was  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  militia.  The 
inference  is  obvious. 

"  The  regiment  which  started  from  Cedar  City  under 
the  command  of  Major  John  D.  Lee,  the  sub-agent  for 
Indian  affairs  in  southern  Utah,  was  accompanied  by 
baggage  wagons  and  the  other  paraphernalia  of  war. 
A  large  body  of  the  Piede  Indians  had  been  invited  to 
accompany  them. 

"An  order  came  from  headquarters  to  cut  off  the 
entire  company  except  the  little  children.  The  emi- 
grants were  utterly  unprepared,  and  the  first  onslaught 
found  them  defenceless.  Accustomed,  however,  to  bor- 
der warfare,  they  immediately  corraled  their  wagons 
and  prepared  for  a    siege.       The    next    morning,  Major 


172  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

John  D.  Lee  assembled  his  troops,  including  the 
auxiliaries  which  he  had  summoned,  about  half  a  mile 
from  the  entrenchment  of  the  fated  emigrants,  and 
then  and  there  informed  them,  with  all  the  coolness 
which  such  an  infamous  scoundrel  alone  could  muster, 
that  the  whole  company  was  to  be  killed,  and  only  the 
little  children  who  were  too  young  to  remember  anything 
were  to  be  spared.  The  unfortunate  emigrants  did  not 
know  who  their  foes  were.  They  saw  Indians,  or  men 
who  were  so  colored  that  they  looked  like  Indians,  and 
they  saw  others  who  were  more  than  strangers  to  them, 
but  they  had  no  clew  to  the  cause  of  their  detention. 
The  emigrants  supposed  that  they  were  surrounded  by 
Indians,  and  expected  the  crudest  treatment  in  case  of 
resistance,  not  only  death,  but  the  outrage  and  shocking 
atrocities  of  savages. 

"  So  day  followed  day.  The  agony  of  the  unhappy 
men  and  women  who  were  thus  besieged,  and  were  in 
daily,  hourly  peril  of  the  most  frightful  of  all  deaths,  can 
be  imagined,  not  told.  Meanwhile,  what  were  those 
atrocious  scoundrels  doing  who  were  lying  in  wait  for 
their  blood  ?  Some  of  them  were  tricked  out  as  Indians  ; 
some  were  in  their  own  proper  dresses  ;  and,  moreover, 
real  Utes  were  there.  The  unhappy  victims  could  not 
possibly  escape.  There  was  time  for  the  murderers  to 
do  their  work  leisurely.  Between  chance  shots,  which 
were  intended  to,  and  did,  carry  death  with  them,  they 
amused  themselves  with  k  pitching  horse-shoe  quoits.' 
Such  heartlessness  is  almost  beyond  conception. 

"  In  terrible  need  of  water,  the  emigrants  dressed  two 
little  girls  in  white  and  sent  them  to  the  well.  But  the 
fiends — the  Mormon  militia  —  shot  them  down.  They 
could  not  possibly  advance.  Their  corn  would  not  last 
long.     They  were  famishing  for  water. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  ±7o 

"A  wa^on  came  near  and  was  found  to  be  filled  with 

o 

armed  men.  Surely  now,  the  unhappy  emigrants 
thought,  substantial  help  had  come.  The  authorities 
of  Utah  in  the  neighborhood,  whether  Gentile  or 
Mormon,  had  come  out  in  the  cause  of  civilization  and 
humanity,  and  succor  was  at  hand. 

' '  A  white  flag  was  waved  from  the  wagon  as  an 
emblem  of  peace,  and  in  order  that  the  emigrants  might 
know  that  it  was  white  men  and  not  the  red  demons 
of  the  hills  who  approached.  They  did  not,  indeed, 
know  that  these  themselves  were  the  monsters  who  had 
wronged  them  all  the  time,  and  who  were  even  now 
compassing  their  death. 

u  Inside  that  wagon  were  President  Haight,  the 
infamous  Mormon  bishop  John  D.  Lee,  and  other 
authorities  of  the  church  in  southern  Utah.  They 
professed  to  the  emigrants  that  they  came  upon  the 
friendly  errand  of  standing  between  them  and  the 
Indians.  They  said  the  Indians  had  taken  offence  at 
something  that  the  emigrants  had  clone,  that  they  were 
thirsting  for  their  blood,  but  that  they,  these  Mormon 
officials,  were  on  good  terms  with  the  Indians,  and  had 
influence,  and  would  use  their  good  offices  in  the  cause 
of  mercy  and  of  peace.  After  some  discussion  they 
left  with  the  professed  view  of  conciliating  the  Indians. 
They  returned,  and  said  that  the  Indians  had  agreed 
that  if  the  emigrants  marched  back  to  Salt  Lake  City, 
their  lives  should  be  spared  ;  but  that  they  must  leave 
evenrthing  behind  them  in  their  camp,  even  including  the 
common  weapons  of  defence  which  ever}7  western  man 
carries  about  his  person.  The  Mormon  officials  then 
solemnly  undertook  to  bring  an  armed  force  and  to 
guard  the  emigrants  safely  back  again  to  the  settlements. 


1  /4  TJie  Mormon  Delusion. 

"  This  agreement  being  made,  the  Mormon  officials 
retired,  and  after  a  short  time  again  returned  with  thirty 
or  forty  armed  men.  Then  the  emigrants  were  marched 
out  —  the  women  and  children  in  the  front,  and  the  men 
following,  while  the  Mormon  guard  followed  in  the  rear. 
When  they  had  inarched  in  this  way  about  a  mile,  and 
had  arrived  at  the  place  where  the  Indians  were  hid  in 
the  bushes  on  each  side  of  the  road,  the  signal  was 
given  for  the  slaughter.  So  taken  by  surprise  were  the 
emigrants,  and  so  implicitly  had  they  confided  in  these 
murderers,  that  they  offered  no  resistance.  The 
Mormon  militia,  their  guard,  immediately  opened  fire 
upon  them  from  the  rear,  while  the  Indians  and  Mor- 
mons disguised  as  Indians,  who  were  hidden  among 
the  bushes,  rushed  out  upon  them,  shooting  them  down 
with  guns  and  bows  and  arrows,  and  cutting  some  of  the 
men's  throats  with  knives.  The  women  and  children, 
shrieking  with  mortal  terror,  scattered  and  fled,  some 
trying  to  hide  in  the  bushes.  Two  young  girls  actually 
did  escape  for  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  when  they  were 
overtaken  and  butchered  under  circumstances  of  the 
greatest  brutality.  About  half  an  hour  was  probably 
occupied  in  the  butchery,  and  every  soul  of  that  company 
was  cut  off,  excepting  only  a  few  little  children  who  were 
supposed  to  be  too  }Toung  to  understand  or  remember 
what  had  taken  place.  The  unfortunate  victims  were 
stripped,  without  reference  to  age  or  sex,  and  then  left 
to  rot  upon  the  field.  There  they  remained  until  torn  and 
dismembered  by  the  wolves,  when  it  was  then  thought 
prudent  to  conceal   such  as  lav  nearest   to  the  road. 

"The  remains  were  subsequently  gathered  together  by 
Major  Carleton,  the  United  States  commissioner,  who 
erected  over  them  a  large  cairn  of  stones,  surmounted 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  175 

by  a  cross  of  red  cedar,  with  the  inscription  thereon  : 
'•Vengeance  is  mine:  I  will  repay,  saith  the  Lord;'  and 
on  a  stone  beneath  were  engraved  the  words  :  — 

"  '  Here  one  hundred  and  twenty  men,  women,  and 
children  were  massacred  in  cold  blood  early  in  Sep- 
tember,  1857.     They  were  from  Arkansas.' 

"It  is  said  that  this  monument  was  subsequently 
destroyed  by  Brigham  Young,  when  he  visited  that 
part  of  the  territory. 

"  The  little  children,  while  their  parents  were  being 
butchered,  had  clung  about  their  murderers'  knees,  en- 
treating mercy,  but  none  of  them  finding  it  save  those 
who  were  little  better  than  infants.  Their  fears  and 
cries  the  night  after  the  murder  are  said  to  have  been 
heart-rending.  One  little  babe,  just  beginning  to  walk, 
was  shot  through  the  arm.  Another  little  girl  was  shot 
through  the  ear,  and  the  clothes  of  most  of  them  were 
saturated  with  their  mothers'  blood.  They  were  dis- 
tributed among  the  people  of  the  settlements,  and  when 
finally  the  government  took  them  under  the  protection 
of  the  nation,  the  people  among  whom  these  little  ones 
lived  actually  charged  for  their  boarding.  Two  of  them 
are  said  to  have  uttered  some  words  from  which  it  was 
presumed  that  their  intelligence  was  in  advance  of  their 
years.  They  were  taken  out  quietly  and  buried!  This 
happened  some  time  after  the  massacre. 

"  Most  of  the  property  of  the  emigrants  was  sold  by 
public  auction  in  Cedar  City.  The  Indians  got  most  of 
the  flour  and  ammunition,  and  the  Mormons  the  more 
valuable  articles.  They  jested  over  it  and  called  it 
'  Spoil  taken  at  the  siege  of  Sevastopol.'  There  is  legal 
proof  that  the  clothing  stripped  from  the  corpses,  blood- 
stained, riddled  by  the  bullets,  and  with  shreds  of  flesh 


176  \  TJie  Mormon  Delusion. 

attached  to  it,  was  placed  in  the  cellar  of  the  tithing 
office  in  Salt  Lake  City,  where  it  lay  about  three  weeks, 
when  it  was  privately  sold.  The  cellar  is  said  to  have 
smelled  of  it  for  years.  Long  after  this  time,  jewelry 
torn  from  the  mangled  bodies  of  the  unfortunate  women 
was  publicly  worn  in  Salt  Lake  City,  and  every  one  knew 
whence  it  came.  Brigham  Young,  who  was  at  the  time 
governor  of  the  territory  and  also  Indian  agent,  made  no 
report  of  the  matter. 

"  Mr.  Jacob  Forney,  the  first  superintendent  of  Indian 
affairs  after  Brigham  Young,  gathered  up  sixteen  of  the 
children  made  orphans  by  that  foul,  treacherous  deed, 
and  gives  the  names  and  ages,  eighteen  months  after  the 
occurrence,  as  follows  :  — 

"  John  Calvin,  now  seven  or  eight  years  old,  does  not 
remember  his  name  ;  says  his  family  lived  at  Horse  Head, 
Johnston  County,  Arkansas.  Ambrose  Mironi,  about 
seven  years,  and  William  Taggit,  four  and  a  half  years, 
brothers ;  these  also  lived  in  Johnston  County.  Pru- 
dence Angeline,  six  years,  and  Annie,  about  three  years ; 
these  two  are  said  to  be  sisters.  Rebecca,  nine  years ; 
Louisa,  five  years;  and  Sarah,  three  and  a  half  years; 
from  Dunlap.  Betsy,  six  years,  and  Anna,  three  years, 
said  to  be  sisters  ;  these  know  nothing  of  their  family 
or  residence.  Charles  Francher,  seven  or  eight  years, 
and  his  sister  Annie,  three  and  a  half  years.  Sophronia 
or  Mary  Huff,  six  years,  and  Elisha  W.  Huff,  four  years. 
A  boy  ;  no  account  of  him  ;  those  among  whom  he  lived 
called  him  William.  Francis  Hawn  or  Korn,  four  and 
a  half  years  old. 

"  Facts  in  my  possession  warrant  me  in  estimating 
that  there  was  distributed  a  few  days  after  the  massacre, 
among  the  leading  church  dignitaries,  $30,000  worth  of 
property. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  177 

"Mormons  have  been  accused  of  aiding  the  Indians 
in  the  commission  of  the  crime,  but,  unfortunately,  every 
step  in  my  inquiries  satisfied  me  that  the  Indians  acted 
only  a  secondary  part.  White  men  were  present  and 
directed  the  Indians." 

Mr.  T.  B.  H.  Stenhouse  says :  — 

"To  this  should  be  added  that  wives  and  daughters 
of  some  of  those  murderers  wore  the  apparel  of  the 
massacred  women  and  maidens,  while  their  polygamic 
husbands  and  fathers  wore  the  masculine  garments  of 
their  victims,  plowed  the  fields  with  their  cattle,  and 
drove  to  their  religious  assemblies  with  the  horses  that 
they  had  stolen  from  the  Arkansas  train,  and  no  one 
called  them  to  account. 

"  It  has  been  repeatedly  asserted  that  the  best  carriage 
was  taken  to  Salt  Lake  City  and  was  there  seen  rolling 
through  the  streets  of  that  place  for  years  afterwards."  l 


CHAPTER   IX. 

MURDER  AND  TREASON  UNPUNISHED.  BRIGHAM  YOUNG. 

IT  seems  incredible  that  such  a  crime  as  the  Mountain 
Meadows  Massacre  could  have  been  committed  in 
the  United  States ;  and  still  more  incredible  that  it 
should  have  been  eighteen  years  before  any  one  was 
brought  to  trial  for  it ;  and  yet  such  is  the  burning  fact. 
Brigham  Young,  the  chief  criminal,  was  at  that  very 
time  a  United  States  officer,  in  the  double  capacity  of 
governor  and  Indian  agent ;  and  John  D.   Lee,  who  had 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,  p.  452. 


178  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

charge  of  the  massacre,  was  a  deputy  Indian  agent 
appointed  by  Young. 

In  1875  John  D.  Lee  was  tried  for  being  one  of  the 
Mountain  Meadows  murderers.  The  jury  were  mostly 
Mormons,  the  whole  Mormon  people,  from  Young  down, 
conspired  to  keep  back  evidence,  and  the  jury  "  dis- 
agreed"! A  second  trial  came  in  187G,  and  Brigham 
Young  having  then  concluded  that  the  only  safety  for 
himself  and  others  was  in  having  a  scapegoat,  deserted 
Lee,  the  evidence  was  forthcoming,  and  Lee  was  found 
guilty,  and  executed  upon  the  very  spot  where  his  vic- 
tims had  pleaded  with  him  for  their  lives.  Before  his 
death  he  wrote  a  full  confession  and  indirectly  laid 
the  responsibility  on  Brigham  Young,  to  whom,  after 
the  bloody  work,  he  made  a  detailed  report  of  the 
massacre.  Brigham  told  him  to  write  to  him  (Young) 
an  account  of  it,  and  to  lay  it  all  on  "  the  Indians," 
and  then  never  to  mention  the  matter  again  to  any 
human  soul. 

And  Brigham  Young,  the  arch-murderer,  with  all  the 
others  who  helped  Lee  to  do  his  terrible  work,  went  free  ! 
One  hundred  and  twenty  innocent  lives  sacrificed,  and  the 
United  States  government,  after  nineteen  }Tears,  executes 
one  wretch  for  the  crime,  and  then  folds  its  hands  ! 

"  There  is  implanted  in  the  human  breast  an  instinct- 
ive horror  of  the  act  of  murder,  and  a  large  number  of 
the  Mormons  who  took  part  in  the  massacre  were  too 
good  men  to  rest  in  peace  after  the  commission  of  a 
dreadful  deed  that  was  forced  upon  them.  It  has  unmis- 
takably withered  and  blasted  their  happiness,  and  some 
of  them  have  suffered  agonizing  tortures  of  conscience, 
equal  to  those  of  Shakespeare's  Thane  of  Cawdor.  Two 
of  them  are  said  to  have  lost  their  reason  entirely,  and 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  179 

others  have  gone  to  early  graves  with  a  full  realization 
of  the  terrible  crime  upon  their  souls."1 

One  of  the  cases  which  illustrates  the  result  of  the 
teaching  of  the  Blood  Atonement  doctrine  is  that 
which  is  known  as  the  "  Parrish  murders"  at  Springville, 
Utah.  After  having  been  a  fanatical  Mormon  for  many 
years,  Mr.  Parrish  apostatized,  and  prepared  to  leave 
Mormondom  for  California.  The  Mormon  elders  of  that 
village  held  a  council  and  appointed  two  men  to  go  to  the 
Parrishes  and,  pretending  that  they  were  themselves 
getting  dissatisfied  with  the  church,  find  out  the  time  set 
for  their  departure.  On  the  fourteenth  of  March,  1857, 
the  evening  of  their  proposed  departure,  they  were  led  by 
these  professed  friends  into  ambush,  and  the  father 
stabbed  to  death,  one  son  shot,  and  the  other  son 
wounded.  Some  of  the  Mormon  men  who  were  guilty 
were  put  upon  the  coroner's  jury  and  the  verdict  was 
that  the  murderers  were  "  unknown  "  ! 

This  Reign  of  Terror  had  been  for  several  years 
absolute  in  Utah.  It  was  well  understood  that  the 
penalty  of  death,  or  worse  than  death,  followed  apos- 
tasy from  the  Mormon  Church,  or  even  dissent  from 
any  of  its  teachings,  or  the  least  criticism  of  any  of  its 
tyrannical  methods  or  wricked  deeds.  What  the  situa- 
tion of  the  people  of  Utah  —  the  poor  victims  of 
this  terror,  half-deluded,  half-cowed,  and  hushed  — ■ 
would  have  come  to  be,  had  not  the  United  States 
army  entered  the  territory,  is  too  dark  a  picture  to 
paint.  The  teachers  of  this  doctrine  (that  each  man's 
sins  must  be  atoned  for  by  having  his  own  throat  cut) 
must  have  given  themselves  over  to  wickedness  so  fully 
that  they  came  to  a  state  of  madness. 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Sainta,  p.  447. 


180  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

One  of  the  first  things  clone  by  Governor  Camming 
after  his  arrival  and  of  that  of  the  United  States  troops 
was  to  announce  protection  to  all  who  wished  to  leave 
the  territory.  The  fear,  however,  that  they  would  be 
detected  and  "cut  off"  b}7  the  Danite  assassins  of  the 
church  before  they  could  get  safely  under  the  guard  of 
United  States  soldiers  was  so  general  that  few  dared 
to  avail  themselves  of  this  offer  of  escape.  Others  were 
hindered  also  by  their  extreme  poverty.  Mr.  Albert  G. 
Browne  says  :  l 

"  During  the  ensuing  week  nearly  two  hundred  persons 
registered  themselves  in  the  manner  he  proposed,  and  a 
greater  number  would  undoubtedly  have  been  glad  to 
follow  their  example,  but  were  deterred  b}7  the  surveil- 
lance to  which  they  were  subjected  by  certain  function- 
aries of  the  church  before  being  admitted  to  his  presence. 
Those  who  were  registered  were  organized  into  trains, 
with  the  little  movable  property  they  possessed,  and 
despatched  toward  Fort  Bridger.  They  arrived  there 
in  the  course  of  May  —  as  motle}7,  ragged,  and  destitute 
a  crowd  as  ever  descended  from  the  deck  of  an  Irish 
emigrant  ship  at  New  York  or  Boston.  The  only  gar- 
ments which  some  possessed  were  made  of  the  canvas 
of  their  wagon  covers.  Many  were  on  foot.  For  pro- 
visions they  had  nothing  but  flour  and  some  fresh  meat. 
It  is  a  fact  creditable  to  humanity  that  private  soldiers 
by  the  score  shared  their  own  abridged  rations  and 
scanty  stock  of  clothing  with  those  poor  wretches,  and 
in  less  than  a  day  after  their  arrival  they  were  provided 
with  much  to  make  them  comfortable." 

United  States  Judge  Cradlebaugh  charged  the  grand 
jury  at  Provo,  Utah,  in  March,  1859,  in  part,  as  follows: 

iThe  Atlantic  Monthly,  April,  1859. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  181 

"  I  said  to  you  in  the  outset  that  a  great  number  of 
cases  have  come  to  my  knowledge  of  crimes  having  been 
committed  through  the  country,  and  I  shall  take  the 
liberty  of  naming  a  few  of  them.  The  persons  commit- 
ting those  offences  have  not  been  prosecuted.  The  rea- 
sons why  I  can  not  tell,  but  it  strikes  me  that  outside 
influences  have  prevented  it.  If  you  do  your  duty  you 
will  not  neglect  to  inquire  into  those  matters,  or  allow 
the  offenders  to  go  unpunished.  I  may  mention  the 
Mountain  Meadows  murders.  If  it  is  a  fact  that  citi- 
zens have  been  guilty  of  that  offence,  indict  them,  send 
for  them,  and  have  them  brought  before  this  court. 

"One  is  the  case  of  the  Parrishes  and  Potter.  Spring- 
ville  is  a  village  of  several  hundred  inhabitants.  There 
was  one  young  man  whom  it  was  intended  to  kill.  He 
ran  to  his  uncle's,  and  was  followed  to  his  uncle's  house. 
Here  are  three  persons  killed,  and  the  criminal  goes 
unpunished.  This  is  sufficient  to  show  that  there  has 
been  an  effort  to  cover  up  instead  of  to  bring  to  light  and 
punish. 

"  At  the  same  place  there  was  another  person  killed. 
When  Henry  Fobbs  was  here,  he  made  his  home  at 
Partial  Terry's,  stayed  there  a  few  weeks  ;  during  that 
time  his  horse  and  revolver  were  stolen.  He  made  his 
escape,  tried  to  get  to  Bridger,  was  caught,  brought 
back,  and  murdered ;  and  that  is  the  last  of  Henry 
Fobbs.  No  investigation  has  been  made.  His  body 
has  been  removed  several  times,  so  that  now,  perhaps, 
it  could  not  be  found.  Here  is  a  man  said  to  be  killed 
by  the  Indians  and  then  his  horse  is  taken  by  Mr.  Terry 
and  traded  for  sheep.  It  seems  to  me  that  these  are 
matters  that  you  ought  to  investigate.  Fobbs,  I  believe, 
lived  in  the  state  of  Illinois.     He  had   a  wife   and  chil- 


1 82  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

dren,  and  was  anxious  to  get  back,  and  I  suppose  his 
wife  is  still  anxious  about  him ;  but  as  to  what  has 
become  of  him  she  can  not  tell. 

"  A  few  days  before  the  matter  of  the  murder  of  the 
Parrishes  and  Potter,  the  stable  of  Parrish  was  broken 
into,  and  his  carriage  and  horses  were  taken  out ;  this 
was  clone  in  the  night.  These  horses  have  never  been 
returned.  That  woman,  the  wife  of  Mr.  Parrish,  told 
me  that  since  then  at  times  she  has  lived  on  bread  and 
water,  and  still  there  are  persons  in  this  community 
riding  about  on  those  horses.  Mr.  Lysander  Gee  has 
those  horses.  He  says  that  a  few  days  after  they  were 
stolen  the}'  were  given  to  him,  and  that  he  was  directed 
to  give  them  to  no  person  whatever. 

"Now,  it  is  a  strange  kind  of  matter  that  persons 
should  go  to  Parrish's,  break  open  his  stable  and  rob 
him,  and  then  take  the  horses  to  Mr.  Lysander  Gee  and 
tell  him  to  keep  them.  It  does  not  look  reasonable. 
It  would  look  more  reasonable  to  suppose  that  Mr. 
Lysander  Gee  was  engaged  in  it  himself,  and  it  is  an 
outrageous  thing  that  this  woman,  one  of  whose  children 
was  killed  with  her  husband,  has  been  obliged  to  live  in 
the  very  dregs  of  poverty.  I  say,  bring  that  man  up 
and  compel  him  to  restore  those  horses,  and  give  the 
property  to  her,  and  do  not  allow  her  to  live  in  poverty 
while  others  are  riding  about  the  country  here  with  her 
husband's  property.  Young  Parrish  is  here ;  if  the 
grand  jury  desire  to  have  him,  they  can  use  him  as  a 
witness.  To  allow  these  things  to  pass  over  gives 
a  color  as  if  they  were  done  by  authority.  The  very 
fact  of  such  a  case  as  the  Mountain  Meadows  shows 
that  there  was  some  person  high  in  the  estimation  of  the 
people,  and  it  was  clone  by  that  authority  ;  and  this  case 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  183 

of  the  Parrishes  shows  the  same  ;  and,  unless  you  do 
your  duty,  such  will  be  the  view  that  will  be  taken 
of  it. 

"  You  can  know  no  law  but  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  and  the  laws  you  have  here.  No  person  can  commit 
crimes  and  say  they  are  authorized  by  higher  authorities, 
and  if  they  have  any  such  notions  they  will  have  to  dispel 
them." 

' '  After  Judge  Cradlebaugh  had  waited  for  two  weeks 
for  some  action  on  the  part  of  the  grand  jury  against  the 
murderers,  his  patience  was  exhausted,  and  he  discharged 
them,  assigning  as  his  reason  the  folly  of  trying  to  bring 
any  of  the  murderers  to  justice  with  a  Mormon  jury. 
He  narrated  how  the  officers  of  the  court  had  sought  to 
apprehend  criminals  in  Springville,  and  how,  when  they 
got  to  that  settlement,  a  trumpet  was  sounded,  and  the 
persons  sought  were  secreted  until  the  departure  of  the 
officers,  when  the  trumpet  was  again  sounded,  and  the 
accused  came  out  of  their  hiding-places  and  went  about 
their  ordinary  business. 

"After  the  jury  was  discharged,  the  judge  continued 
to  take  the  affidavits  of  the  witnesses,  which  revealed  the 
existence  of  a  reign  of  terror  in  the  country  settlements 
wherever  there  were  apostates,  beyond  all  credibility. 
Evidence  in  possession  of  the  court  was  most  positive 
that  the  witnesses  testifying  of  the  murders  in  Springville 
believed  themselves  to  be  in  constant  jeopardy,  and  that 
their  lives  were  insecure  but  for  the  protection  afforded 
by  the  troops."  ' 

At  the  close  of  the  term,  Judge  Cradlebaugh  was  filled 
with  righteous  indignation  at  the  cool  refusal  of  the  grand 
jury,  several  of  whom  were  themselves  guilty,  to  indict 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,  p.  407. 


1S4  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

the  Mountain  Meadows  murderers  and  other  criminals. 
He  discharged  the  jury  with  these  remarks  :  — 

ww  Until  I  commenced  the  examination  of  the  testimony 
iu  this  case,  I  always  supposed  I  lived  in  a  land  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty,  in  which  we  were  secured  by  the 
Constitution  of  our  country  the  right  to  remove  at  pleas- 
ure from  one  portion  of  our  domain  to  another,  and  also 
that  we  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  4  worshiping  God  accord- 
ing to  the  dictates  of  our  own  conscience.'  But  I  regret 
to  say  that  the  evidence  in  this  case  clearly  proves  that, 
so  far  as  Utah  is  concerned,  I  have  been  mistaken  in  such 
supposition.  Men  are  murdered  here,  coolly,  deliberately, 
premeditatedly  murdered.  Their  murder  is  deliberated 
and  determined  upon  by  church  council-meetings,  and 
that,  too,  for  no  other  reason  than  that  they  had  apos- 
tatized from  your  church,  and  were  striving  to  leave  the 
territory. 

"  You  are  the  tools,  the  dupes,  the  instruments  of  a 
tyrannical  church  despotism.  The  heads  of  your  church 
order  and  direct  you.  You  are  taught  to  obey  their 
orders  and  commit  these  horrid  murders.  Deprived  of 
your  liberty,  you  have  lost  your  manhood,  and  become 
the  willing  instruments  of  bad  men. 

kt  I  say  to  you  it  will  be  my  earnest  effort,  while  with 
you,  to  knock  off  your  ecclesiastical  shackles  and  set 
you  free." 

Defeated  in  every  attempt  to  bring  offenders  to  justice, 
Judge  Cradlebaugh  adjourned  his  court  and  entered  upon 
the  docket  this  record,  namely:  "  The  whole  community 
presents  a  united  and  organized  opposition  to  the  proper 
administration  of  justice." 

The  result  was  that  the  Mormons  finally  succeeded  in 
getting   an    order  from  President   Buchanan's    secretary 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  18o 

of  war  that  the  military  could  be  used  as  a  posse  only 
upon  call  of  the  governor  of  the  territory.  As  the 
governor  was  a  friend  of  the  Mormons,  the  United 
States  courts  were  left  without  military  protection,  and 
the  Mormons  were,  as  usual,  victorious. 

Some  apostate  Mormons,  called  "  Morrisites,"  who 
rebelled  against  the  leadership  of  Brigham  Young,  started 
a  colony  at  Weber,  Utah,  and  Joseph  Morris,  an  ignorant 
and  excessively  fanatical  Welshman,  was  their  prophet. 
They  quarreled  among  themselves,  refused  to  obey  the 
summons  of  the  court ;  the  Mormon  militia  were  called 
out,  and  after  a  siege  of  three  days,  in  which  eight 
persons  were  killed,  four  of  whom  were  women,  the 
Morrisites  surrendered.  The  Mormon  Colonel  Burton 
then  rode  into  the  village  and  deliberately  shot  down 
Morris  himself,  two  women,  and  others.  And  thus 
Brigham's  rival  prophet  came  to  his  death. 

When  Edward  M.  Stanton  became  secretary  of  war, 
Colonel  Connor  was  sent  to  Utah  in  charge  of  a  small 
number  of  United  States  troops,  with  instructions  to 
establish  a  military  post  near  Salt  Lake  City.  On  the 
twentieth  of  October,  1862,  he  marched  through  that  city 
and  established  Fort  Douglass  on  a  bench  of  the  Wah- 
satch  range,  in  the  suburbs  of  Salt  Lake  City,  where  the 
guns  of  the  United  States  could  point  to  any  part  of  the 
city,  and  were  within  easy  range  of  the  harem  of  Brigham 
Young.  The  new  governor,  Stephen  B.  Harding,  of 
Indiana,  sent  a  message  to  the  Mormon  legislature,  in 
which  he  warned  them  against  violations  of  the  new  anti- 
polygamy  law  of  that  year,  1862.  The  presence  of  the 
United  States  soldiers  and  their  offensive  location  at 
Camp  Douglass,  overlooking  the  "  City  of  the  Saints,'' 
aroused  Brigham    and    all   Mormonclom   to    indignation. 


186  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Brigham  added  also  insult  to  defiance  at  this  time  by 
taking  another  polygamous  wife  (Amelia  Folsom),  not- 
withstanding the  recent  passage  of  the  anti-polygamy 
law.  The  Mormons  held  an  indignation  meeting,  de- 
nounced the  United  States  officers  and  soldiers,  declared 
Camp  Douglass  "a  nuisance,"  and  appointed  a  committee 
"  to  request  the  United  States  officers  to  resign  and  leave 
the  territory."  Judge  Waite  prepared  to  have  Brigham 
arrested  for  polygamy.  Mormon  spies  reported  this  to 
Brigham,  who  hastily  flung  out  a  signal,  and  there  was 
instantly  a  gathering  of  Mormon  militia,  and  within  one 
hour  two  thousand  ar*ned  Mormons  were  guarding  the 
premises  of  the  polygamous  prophet.  Cannon,  rifles,  and 
ammunition  were  brought  forth  from  concealment,  and 
the  Mormon  city  was  in  a  fever  of  excitement.  Spies 
watched  every  move  at  Camp  Douglass,  and  signals 
were  sent  out,  by  which  the  whole  Mormon  people  could 
be  assembled  at  any  moment,  by  day  or  by  night.  But 
Judge  Kinney,  who  was  friendly  to  the  Mormons,  came 
to  their  aid.  Brigham  was  politely  invited  to  appear 
before  Judge  Waite  and  give  bonds  to  await  the  action 
of  the  grand  jury.  This  body,  composed  of  Mormon 
church  officers,  gravely  reported  to  the  court  that  they 
found  "  no  evidence"  that  Brigham  Young  had  married 
Amelia  Folsom,  although  it  was  notorious  that  he  had 
courted  her  with  such  silly  demonstrations  as  to  excite 
universal  ridicule,  had  married  her,  and  was  then  living 
with  her  and  calling  her  his  wife. 

Brigham  Young  believed  that  the  United  States  was 
to  be  torn  asunder  by  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  then  in 
its  darkest  days,  and  he  preached  fiery  denunciations 
from  the  tabernacle,  and  the  hostile  feeling  between  the 
Mormons  and  the  little  band  of  soldiers  in  Camp  Doug- 


The  Mormon  Delusion,  18  < 

lass  increased,  and  a  collision  seemed  certain.  Both 
parties  knew  that  the  Mormons  were  in  such  superior 
numbers  that  they  could  at  any  time  massacre  every 
United  States  soldier  in  the  territory,  and  finally  Brigham 
ordered  the  Mormon  mayor  to  drive  the  soldiers  out. 
Upon  a  false  signal,  in  March,  1863,  in  the  dead  of 
night,  the  Mormon  men  rushed  from  their  houses  and 
gathered  as  one  man  around  the  prophet's  harem,  armed 
and  desperate. 

When  Colonel  Connor  learned  of  Brigham's  order  he 
said:  "  I  know  that  Brigham  Young  could  use  up  this 
handful  of  men  ;  but  there  are  sixty  thousand  men  in 
California  who  would  avenge  our  blood,  and  behind  them 
the  whole  nation."  Young's  sober  second  thought  led 
him  to  recall  his  order.  Had  he  not  done  so,  and  had 
the  troops  in  Camp  Douglass  then  fallen  victims  to  Mor- 
mon hatred  of  the  United  States  and  her  laws,  the  volun- 
teers which  would  have  poured  into  Utah  from  the  Pacific 
coast  and  from  adjoining  territories  would  have  wiped  out 
the  Mormons  so  effectively  that  the  "  Mormon  Problem  " 
would  never  again  have  vexed  the  peace  and  shamed  the 
honor  of  our  fair  country. 

"  There  is  one  thing  I  wish  to  call  attention  to  that  is 
generally  overlooked.  All  good  Mormons  are  equally 
criminal.  I  mean  by  this  that  if  not  guilty  of  the  crime 
in  chief,  they  are  aiders  and  abettors.  In  civilized  coun- 
tries, all  citizens  are  anxious  to  have  crime  punished  ; 
here  the  order  is  reversed.  I  have  been  a  detective 
officer  for  many  years,  but  I  must  say  that  Utah  is  the 
hardest  place  I  have  ever  worked  in.  Men  who  have 
lived  from  boyhood  iu  a  little  settlement  are  '  not  known ' 
by  any  of  the  inhabitants.  The  very  children  who  have 
been  raised  with  the  man  you  are  looking  for,  if  asked 


loo  Tlie  Mormon  Delusion. 

his  residence  or  anything  about  him,  will  answer  '  dunno.' 
In  fact,  none  of  them  seem  to  know  anything  except  how 
to  commit  a  crime  and  cover  it  up."1 

Brigham  Young  was  born  in  Whittingham,  Windham 
County,  Vermont,  June  1,  1801,  and  died  in  Salt  Lake 
City,  August  29,  1877,  aged  seventy-six  years.  He  was 
one  of  ten  children,  five  sons  and  five  daughters.  When 
he  was  a  babe  his  parents  moved  to  Smyrna,  Chenango 
County,  New  York  ;  thence,  in  1813,  to  Genoa,  Cayuga 
County,  New  York,  where  he  remained  until  he  was 
twenty-eight  years  of  age.  He  then  moved  to  Mendon, 
Monroe  Country,  next  to  Canandaigua,  and  soon  after 
returned  to  Mendon.  Here,  on  .April  14,  1832,  he  was 
baptized  into  membership  in  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter  Day  Saints,  and  soon  afterwards  "gathered" 
with  those  of  like  ilk  to  Kirtland,  Ohio,  and  became  an 
energetic  assistant  to  the  prophet  Joseph  Smith. 

Brigham's  parents  were  poor  and  he  learned  the  trade 
of  painter  and  glazier,  and,  as  he  said,  "  did  many  a 
hard  day's  work  for  six   '  bits  '  a  day." 

When  he  desired  to  attend  a  conference  early  in  the 
history  of  the  church  he  had  to  go  in  a  borrowed  suit 
and  boots.  It  was  always  his  boast  that  he  had  "  never 
attended  school  but  eleven  and  one-half  days." 

Brigham  Young's  official  residence  was  known  in  Salt 
Lake  City  as  the  Bee-hive  House,  where  he  had  his 
private  office,  reception  room,  and  bedchamber.  Ad- 
joining was  the  Lion  House,  so  called,  where  dwelt  about 
one  dozen  of  his  wives  and  their  children.  Mrs.  Sten- 
house  says  :  — 

"The  Lion  House  is  what  ought  to  be  the  home  of 
the  prophet,  for  here  nearly  all  of  his  wives  reside.      (He 

1  Fate  of  Madame  La  Tour,  ]>.  359. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  189 

has,  however,  many  other  houses  in  the  city.)  On  the 
basement  floor  is  the  dining-room,  kitchen,  pantry,  and 
other  general  offices.  The  first  floor  is  divided  by  a  long 
passage  with  doors  on  each  side.  On  the  right  hand, 
about  half  a  dozen  wives  with  small  families  find 
accommodations.  On  the  left,  at  the  entrance,  is  the 
parlor,  and  the  other  rooms  on  that  side  are  occupied  by 
mothers  with  larger  families,  and  ladies  who  have  a  little 
more  than  ordinary  attention.  The  upper  floor  is  divided 
into  twenty  square  bedrooms. 

"When  I  first  knew  brother  Brigham,  poor  man,  he 
had  only  sixteen  wives  living  with  him  in  Salt  Lake  City ; 
and  even  now  he  has  no  more  than  nineteen  !  Perhaps 
I  ought  to  say  eighteen,  since  Eliza  Ann  has  run  away 
from  him,  and  left  the  poor  old  gentleman  desolate  and 
forlorn.  Of  course  brother  Brigham  has  had  many  more 
than  nineteen  wives,  but  besides  the  living  ladies,  others 
are  dead  or  have  strayed  away,  no  one  knew  whither, 
and  x^erhaps,  as  brother  Heber  once  said  to  me,  nobody 
cared." 

From  Nauvoo  onward  till  his  death  Brigham  Young 
was  the  life  and  soul  of  Mormonism,  its  guiding  spirit, 
its  unyielding  despot.  Of  him  it  may  be  said  almost 
with  literal  truth  that  his  eyes  constantly  followed 
and  his  hand  was  always  upon  every  man  and  every 
woman  in  all  the  Utah  country.  He  carried  his  right 
to  rule  farther  than  any  despot  before  him  had  ever 
dared.  He  held  that  every  man's  entire  religious  belief, 
daily  routine,  business  affairs  in  detail,  and  political 
action  were  under  his  absolute  control ;  and  it  is  one 
of  the  marvels  in  the  world's  history  that  he  succeeded, 
in  the  main,  in  carrying  his  claims  into  recognition  and 
securing  such  unquestioned  yielding. 


190  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Mr.  T.  B.  H.  Stenhouse  says :  — 

"  No  one  to-day,  even  in  Utah,  can  form  any  idea  of 
the  thorough  control  that  Brigham  once  had  over  the 
people.  Nothing  was  ever  undertaken  without  his 
permission.  He  knew  of  everything.  No  person  could 
enter  into  business  without  consulting  him,  nor  would 
any  one  ever  think  of  leaving  the  city  to  reside  in  any 
other  part  of  the  country  without  first  having  his 
approval.  Merchants  who  went  east  or  west  to  pur- 
chase goods  had  to  present  themselves  at  his  office,  and 
report  their  intention  of  going  to  the  States  at  such  a 
time  —  if  he  had  no  contrary  orders  to  give  them. 
Some,  no  doubt,  may  have  sought  his  counsel  on  their 
proposed  undertakings  and  journeys,  believing  that  his 
superior  wisdom  could  aid  them,  but  in  his  own  mind  he 
claimed  that  the  Saints  should  do  nothing  without  his 
knowledge  and  approval.  That  oft-reiterated  expression, 
that  it  was  his  right  to  dictate  and  control  everything, 
'  even  to  the  ribbons  that  a  woman  should  wear,'  or  '  to 
the  setting  up  of  a  stocking,'  was  the  truthful  illustration 
of  his  feelings. 

"A  ball  even  could  not  take  place  until  he  was  con- 
sulted upon  the  propriety  of  dancing  then  ;  and  before 
the  invitations  were  issued,  the  list  of  the  invited  was 
read  to  him,  and  he  erased  or  added  names  at  his 
pleasure.  Before  any  of  the  married  brethren  could 
make  love  to  a  maiden  with  the  view  of  making  her  a 
second,  third,  or  tenth  wife,  he  was  expected  to  go  and 
obtain  Brigham's  permission,  and  even  the  young  men 
were  instructed  that  properly  they  should  do  likewise. 
"  But  the  worst  form  of  this  surveillance,  control,  and 
dependence  upon  his  will  was  the  power  which  Brigham 
assumed  in  the  most  vital  interests  of  every  man's  affairs. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  191 

He  not  only  sent  the  missionaries  abroad  when  and 
whither  he  pleased,  but  when  he  desired  it,  he  sent  the 
elders  away  for  some  cause  of  offence,  real  or  imaginary. 
Time  after  time  he  has  called  men  living  in  Salt  Lake 
City  to  close  their  business  and  go  down  to  '  Dixie,'  — 
the  southern  part  of  the  territory,  —  which  has  been 
regarded  by  most  people  as  a  penal  settlement,  or  place 
of  banishment.  Repugnance  to  such  a  country  or 
the  inadaptability  of  the  person  to  any  pursuits  there 
was  nothing  to  him.  Quite  a  number  of  persons  had  to 
sacrifice  property  in  the  city  in  order  to  go  to  Dixie, 
and  free  tongues  have  not  been  slow  to  insinuate  that, 
in  some  instances,  those  persons  were  sent  away  for  the 
very  purpose  that  the  prophet  might  the  more  easily 
purchase  their  property."  ] 

As  a  speaker,  Brigham  Young  was  always  listened  to 
with  attention.  This  was  not  so  much  because  his  dis- 
course was  interesting,  but  because  he  was  liable,  at  any 
time,  to  be  excited  or  angry  on  the  platform,  and  was 
then  sure  to  say  things  which  were  interesting  to  the 
Mormon  crowd  before  him  and  disgusting  to  all  persons 
of  any  refinement.  He  was  unacquainted  with  history, 
knew  no  logical  methods,  and  was  innocent  of  rhetoric. 
His  language  was  ungrammatical  and  coarse,  and,  at 
times,  most  indecently  low,  vulgar,  and  profane.  His 
addresses  were  direct  and  bold,  his  illustrations  apt, 
and  his  delivery  vigorous.  In  "set  speeches"  he  was 
a  failure.  When  Vice-President  Colfax  and  some  of 
his  friends  visited  Salt  Lake  City,  Brigham  was  expected 
to  do  his  best,  but  he  failed  signally.  He  had  been 
"  coached"  by  some  of  his  brethren  to  use  Philip,  Land- 
grave of  Hesse,  for  illustrating  a  certain  point,  and  he 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,  p.  657. 


192  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

blundered  out,  "  Mr.  Philip  Landgrave"  etc.,  to  the 
infinite  merriment  of  his  visitors  and  mortification  of 
his  more  intelligent  Mormon  brethren. 

Brigham  s  greed  for  wealth  showed  itself  in  his  youth 
and  clung  to  him  to  the  grave.  From  poverty  he  came 
to  be  the  owner  of  several  millions  of  property.  As  the 
officer  of  the  church  upon  a  salary,  and  having  church 
matters  which  demanded  all  his  time,  that  he  should  thus 
pile  up  millions  of  private  property  shows  on  its  face  that 
his  gains  could  not  have  been  honestly  acquired.  His 
absolute  control  over  the  tithing  income  of  the  church, 
which  grew  to  be  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars 
annually,  accounts  for  his  large  acquisitions  of  wealth. 
At  Nauvoo  there  was  complaint  that  Brigham  did  not 
account  for  the  collections  and  tithings  gathered  when 
on  his  missions.  When  Joseph  Smith  confronted  him 
with  the  accusation,  Young  replied:  ''Thou  shalt  not 
muzzle  the  mouth  of  the  ox  that  treadeth  out  the  corn." 
To  this  Joseph  responded:  "True,  but  Moses  did  not 
say  the  ox  was  to  eat  up  all  the  corn." 

The  peculations  of  Brigham  Young  from  the  church 
amounted  to  enormous  sums,  and  after  his  death  the 
facts  were  publicly  admitted  by  his  executors  when 
brought  into  open  court.  At  one  time,  finding  that  his 
indebtedness  to  the  church  funds  amounted  to  $200,000, 
he  directed  the  church  bookkeeper  to  credit  his  account 
with  the  church  with  that  amount  "  for  services  ren- 
dered," and  thus  a  "  settlement"  was  made.  After  his 
death  the  officers  of  the  church  presented  a  claim  against 
the  executors  of  Young's  estate  for  $999,932.90  for  church 
property  which  he  had  converted  to  his  own  use,  and  the 
executors  paid  it.  Some  of  Young's  heirs  were  dissatisfied 
with  this  action  of  the  executors,  and  brought  suit  against 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  193 

them.  One  of  the  affidavits  presented  in  behalf  of  the 
heirs  made  such  damaging  exposures  that  the  executors 
paid  the  heirs  $75,000,  and  the  affidavit  was  withdrawn 
from  the  tiles  of  the  court,  and  never  brought  to  light. 


CHAPTER   X. 


POLYGAMY    AND    ITS    BITTER    FRUITS. 

THE  introduction  of  polygamy  as  a  doctrine  and 
practice  of  the  Mormon  Church  was  the  digging 
of  a  pit  down  which  the  Mormons  have  ever  since  been 
descending. 

In  a  sermon  in  the  Mormon  Tabernacle  in  Salt  Lake 
City,  Orson  Pratt  said :  "  The  doctrine  of  a  plurality  of 
wives  is  a  part  of  our  religion,  and  necessary  for  our 
exaltation  in  the  eternal  world.  Take  unto  yourselves 
more  wives.  These  wives  are  to  be  sealed  to  the  Saints, 
for  time  and  eternity,  only  by  the  priesthood.  If  men 
neglect  this  sealing  they  will  be  dammed  to  all  eternity." 

If  the  wife  objects  to  polygamy  she  is  met  with  the 
following  ''revelation "  of  the  prophet :  "If  any  man  have 
a  wife,  and  he  teaches  unto  her  the  law  of  my  priesthood 
as  pertaining  to  these  things  (that  is,  polygamy),  then 
shall  she  believe,  and  administer  unto  him,  or  she  shall  be 
destroyed,  saith  the  Lord  your  God,  for  I  will  destroy 
her." 

A  fifteen-year-old  daughter  was  bound  hands  and  feet 
by  her  father,  and  whipped  because  she  refused  to  be 
married  to  an  old    polygamist ;    an    unwilling    first    wife 


194  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

was  locked  up  while  her  husband  removed  the  best  of 
the  furniture  to  furnish  another  house  for  a  new  and 
second  wife  ;  a  first  wife's  own  money  is  taken  by  the  hus- 
band to  buy  furniture  for  the  new  "second."  It  is  not 
uncommon  for  a  polygamist  to  live  in  a  house  of  two  to 
four  rooms,  and  sometimes  in  one  room,  with  two  to  four 
wives.  There  is  a  house  in  Salt  Lake  City  where  a  man 
lived  with  three  wives  who  were  mother,  daughter,  and 
granddaughter,  and  he  had  children  by  each. 

The  bitter  quarrels,  which  often  come  to  blows,  in  these 
families,  the  cruelties,  the  fierce  jealousies,  the  burning 
hatreds  which  never  die  between  these  wives,  the  crushed 
hearts,  the  hopeless  lives,  the  insanities  and  suicides,  the 
numberless  and  nameless  immoralities  and  crimes  which 
are  sought  to  be  hidden  from  Gentile  eyes  —  what  a 
chapter  of  horrors !  and  all  in  the  sacred  name  of 
religion  !  And  yet  all  these  horrors  are  a  necessary 
result  of  the  Mormon  system  and  have  existed  there 
for  forty  years,  and  have  spread  into  the  adjoining 
territories. 

The  Mormons  teach  that  marriage  is  not  a  civil  con- 
tract ;  that  only  those  marriages  are  valid  and  binding 
whose  ceremonies  are  performed  by  Mormon  priests ; 
that  all  non-Mormon  marriages  are  void,  and  the  chil- 
dren of  such  marriages  are  lost ;  that  when  husband  or 
wife  joins  the  Mormons  and  the  other  does  not,  the  one 
joining  is  entirely  freed  from  the  previous  marriage 
contract ;  that  when  both  husband  and  wife  become 
Mormons  they  must  again  be  married  by  the  priesthood  ; 
that  if  the  husband  or  the  wife  thereafter  leave  the 
Mormon  Church  the  other  is  thereby  entirely  divorced, 
and  free  to  marry  again.  Until  the  late  law  of  Congress 
there  have  been  no  civil  marriages  in  Utah,  and  now  that 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  195 

the  law  of  Congress  requires  all  marriages  to  be  accord- 
ing to  civil  law,  such  Mormons  as  wish  to  be  legally 
married  are  first  married  by  a  civil  officer,  and  then 
remarried  by  a  priest  in  a  Mormon  temple. 

As  all  marriages  were  to  be  performed  in  the  Endow- 
ment House  in  Salt  Lake  City,  there  were  sometimes 
scarcely  hours  enough  in  the  day  to  get  all  the  marrying 
done  ;  and,  to  facilitate  matters,  special  days  were  set 
apart  for  particular  places ;  for  instance,  the  couples 
(or  triples)  from  Provo  must  come  on  "  Provo  day,"  etc. 
Then  these  lecherous  Saints  began  to  arrange  with  those 
who  were  going  to  the  states  or  foreign  countries  as 
missionaries  to  engage  from  one  to  several  extra  wives 
for  them,  sometimes  furnishing  money  in  advance  to  pay 
their  way.  This  worked  well,  except  that  the  mission- 
aries wanted  extra  wives  themselves,  and  always  had  first 
choice.  When  a  company  of  new  arrivals  landed  in  Salt 
Lake  City  and  were  turned  loose  in  the  ' '  cattle-yard " 
at  the  tithing-house,  Mormon  men  were  sometimes  seen 
hastening  to  this  free  "  market"  to  select  a  second  or  a 
fifth  wife  !  The  heart-broken  and  angry  first  wife  was 
often  seen  at  this  yard  getting  a  third  wife  for  her  own 
husband,  in  order  to  spite  the  hated  second  wife. 

In  one  village  two  old  polygamists,  the  one  seventy 
years  old,  and  the  other  nearly  sixty,  were  almost  beside 
themselves  with  grief  (  !)  because  there  were  no  more 
unmarried  women,  and  they  went  to  a  neighboring 
family  where  there  were  two  little  girls,  one  fourteen 
years  of  age  and  the  other  twelve  years,  and  told  the 
parents  that  the  prophet  of  Salt  Lake  City  had  a  reve- 
lation from  the  Lord  that  they  were  to  many  these  girls  ; 
the  parents  dared  not  disobey  this  "  counsel,"  and  these 
unhung  villains   "married"  these  infant  victims  I 


196  Tlie  Mormon  Delusion. 

Why  do  women  go  into  polygamy  ?  Because  the  better 
class  of  Mormon  women  actually  believe  that  their  con- 
sent to  polygamy  is  necessary  to  their  salvation,  or,  at 
least,  to  any  exaltation  in  the  future  life.  It  is  because 
of  woman's  willingness  to  sacrifice  for  her  religion  even 
the  dearest  instincts  of  her  heart,  though  her  heart  breaks 
and  it  sinks  her  life  into  misery  and  hopelessness. 

Mormonism  holds  out  to  men  unlimited  license  in  this 
life,  with  glory  and  unlimited  license  in  the  world  to 
come.  To  women  it  offers  the  requirement  of  strict 
obedience  to  their  husbands  and  the  priesthood,  the 
sacrifice  of  their  soul's  desire  for  the  whole  heart  of 
their  husbands,  and  the  duty  to  rear  as  many  children 
as  possible. 

In  other  words  :  — 

Indulgence  for  Men, 
Sacrifices  for  Women . 

At  one  time,  at  a  largely  attended  public  meeting  of 
male  members  only  of  the  Mormon  priesthood  in  Salt 
Lake  City,  Brigham  Young,  after  pharisaically  denounc- 
ing sin,  said  :  "  All  of  you  who  have  been  guilty  of  com- 
mitting adultery,  stand  up."  More  than  three  fourths  of 
those  present  rose  to  their  feet.  As  these  were  men 
only,  the  moral  condition  of  the  other  sex  also  can  be 
inferred.  A  bishop  present  asked  if  there  was  not  some 
misunderstanding  of  the  question,  as  the}7  probably 
understood  that  it  applied  to  their  actions  before  they 
became  Mormons.  Then  Brigham  reiterated  the  ques- 
tion, saying  it  meant  that  sin  committed  since  they 
entered  the  church  ;  and  again  every  man  still  stood  up. 
Brigham  then  instructed  them  how  to  evade  another 
exposure  by  saying,  "  Be  baptized  for  the  remission  of 
your  sins,  and,  as  they  are  washed  away  by   the   ordi- 


TJie  Mormon  Delusion. 


197 


nance  of  baptism,  you  can  then  truly  say  you  are  not 
guilty  of  the  sins  inquired  of,  although  you  may  have 
committed  them." 

The  following  is  upon  the  authority  of  The  Salt  Lake 
Tribune  and  of  a  widely  known  and  reliable  citizen  of 
Salt  Lake  City  :  The  town  of  Lehi  is  situated  about 
twenty-five  miles  south  of  Salt  Lake  City  and  has 
fifteen  hundred  population.  The  statement  was  made 
that  no  Mormon  girl  had  been  married  in  that  town  for 
three  years  who  had  not  become  a  mother  before  the 
proper  time.  While  on  the  cars  between  Lehi  and  Salt 
Lake  City  a  number  of  Mormons  urged  the  Mormon 
bishop  of  Lehi  to  publish  a  denial  of  this  statement,  but 
his  answer  was  that  there  was  too  much  truth  in  it. 

A  United  States  officer  who  resided  in  Utah  for  six 
years  wrote  to  The  Denver  Tribune  that  he  saw  in 
southern  Utah,  dining  at  one  table,  five  polygamous 
wives  of  one  Mormon  bishop,  having  at  home  at  that 
time  thirty-six  children,  boys  and  girls  from  ten  to 
twenty  years  of  age.  These  young  Mormons  all  slept 
in  one  very  large  single  room  overhead  in  the  winter, 
and  in  the  summer  they  all  huddled  together  in  the 
straw  at  the  barn.  Several  of  these  young  unmarried 
girls  were  bearing  children  to  their  male  relatives. 
Cattle  and  hogs  do  likewise.  These  things  were  winked 
at  by  the  Mormon  Church. 

An  investigation  of  the  subject  of  plural  marriages 
was  made  by  a  committee  at  the  request  of  a  society 
in  the  east,  and  from  the  facts  obtained  the  conclusion 
was  reached  that  "about  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  plural 
marriages  were  necessitated  by  previous  immorality." 
In  a  Mormon  village  of  four  hundred  people  there  were 
more  than  a  dozen  illegitimate  births  in  one  year.1 

1  Hand-book  of  Mormonism. 


1J8  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

"Again  and  again  parties  have  been  sealed  to  each 
other  '  for  time  and  eternity,'  and  in  less  than  six  months 
divorced  by  the  same  power  that  sealed  them.  .  .  .  Mul- 
titudes of  women  in  Utah  have  been  divorced  and  remar- 
ried so  many  times  that  they  scarcely  know  themselves 
by  name.  It  is  a  common  thing  to  find  women  living  in 
polygamy  who  have  been  divorced  three  or  four  times 
from  as  many  different  husbands.  An  Englishwoman, 
who,  a  few  years  ago,  abandoned  her  husband  and  chil- 
dren for  the  purpose  of  gathering  with  the  Saints  to 
Zion,  has  been  divorced  and  remarried  five  times  since 
she  came  to  Utah.  The  present  writer  has  lived  within 
half  a  block  of  a  woman  who,  after  being  divorced  from 
five  husbands,  is  now  living  in  polygamy  with  the  sixth  ; 
and  one  of  our  district  judges  reports  the  case  of  an 
elderly  Saintess,  living  near  the  place  in  which  he  holds 
court,  who  has  been  divorced  fourteen  times."  l 

There  has  never  been  in  Utah  a  civil  marriage  law  or 
any  provision  for  licenses,  or  anything  else  respecting 
marriage,  until  1888,  when  the  Mormon  legislature  was 
coerced  to  enact  some  laws  on  this  subject  for  fear  they 
could  not  otherwise  secure  statehood.  Until  then  the 
whole  matter  has  been  left  with  the  Mormon  Church,  and 
by  it  concealed  in  the  iniquitous  Endowment  House,  and 
that  being  a  secret  place,  what  is  done  there  none  but 
the  head  of  the  church  knows  ;  and  even  he  has  per- 
jured himself  to  conceal  his  knowledge  from  the  courts. 

One  woman  who  had  been  inveigled  into  polygamy  at 
the  age  of  seventeen,  speaking  of  her  husband,  said : 
"  The  happiest  day  I  spent  for  twenty  years  was  the  day 
when  I  saw  him  laid  in  his  grave."  2 

1  Fate  of  Madame  La  Tour. 

2  Many  of  the  items  following  in  this  chapter  are  condensed  from  "The 
Women  of  Mormonism,"  hy  the  kind  permission  of  the  publisher,  Mr. 
C.  G.  G.  Paine. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  199 

Nothing  was  left  undone  to  compel  women  to  accept 
the  pretended  revelation  on  polygamy,  and  the  cruelest 
persecution  pursued  those  who  would  not  consent  that 
their  husbands  should  take  more  wives ;  their  reputations 
were  blasted,  and  their  eternal  condemnation  threatened. 
Husbands  withdrew  from  their  wives  not  only  all  marks 
of  affection,  but  also  almost  the  very  necessaries  of  life. 
Women  were  driven  into  polygamy  by  flattery,  threats, 
or  even  by  special  pretended  "  revelations."  One  wo- 
man declares:  "Indeed,  death  would  have  been  gladly 
welcomed  by  many  of  us,  but  alas  !  we  cried  in  vain  ; 
he  would  not  come.  If  men  also  were  rebellious  they 
were  sent  off  on  missions  and  their  wives  commanded 
to  receive  the  attentions  of  other  men  during  their 
absence.  I  dare  not  report  the  'counsel'  given  on  this 
point,  it  is  so  grossly  indelicate  and  immoral.  In  fact, 
we  were  regarded  as  simply  brood  animals.  Brigham 
Young  frequently  told  the  women  that  they  need  not 
expect  their  husbands  to  love  them  ;  that  it  was  honor 
enough  to  be  allowed  to  bear  children  to  a  Saint.  "When 
the  Reign  of  Terror  existed,  hundreds  of  women  went 
into  polygamy  to  escape  being  '  blood-atoned.'  " 

It  is  conceded  by  all  Mormons,  men  or  women,  that 
all  women  naturally  hate  polygamy.  John  T.  Caine,  the 
Mormon  delegate  to  Congress,  is  reported  to  have  said 
in  1888:  — 

"  The  nature  of  woman  is  the  same  the  world  over. 
Only  religious  conviction  of  an  overwhelming  character 
can  constrain  any  good  woman  to  have  her  husband's 
affections  shared  by  another.  But  that  conviction  of 
religious  duty  and  self-sacrifice  will  enable  a  woman  to 
curb  her  feelings  and  endure  unselfishly,  and  even  with 
cheerfulness,  so  great  a  trial,  there  can  be  no  doubt." 


-^OO  TJie  Mormon  Delusion. 

"When  the  revelation  on  polygamy  was  first  published 
as  the  doctrine  of  the  Mormons  in  1852,  over  seventeen 
thousand  members  left  the  church  in  England  within  six 
months.  But  those  who  were  already  at  Nauvoo  or, 
later,  in  Utah,  were  in  a  net  from  which  escape  was 
impossible  to  many,  unless  they  were  ready  to  meet 
death.  Some  men  apostatized,  some  resisted  for  a  time, 
and  finally  yielded  to  the  pressure  brought  to  bear  by 
the  prophet  and  his  aids.  Most  of  the  women  at  first 
considered  the  so-called  "revelation"  a  cloak  to  cover 
immoralities.  Some  fanatical  women,  and  some  who 
were  already  thoroughly  bad,  assumed  to  believe  the 
revelation  was  divine,  and,  being  high  in  the  church, 
exerted  almost  a  controlling  influence  over  many  who 
were  weaker-minded,  but  strong  in  the  faith.  So  the 
struggle  went  on,  until  the  infatuation  became  general. 

A  first  wife  tells  the  following  story:  "Friends  who 
have  heard  me  complain  of  the  sorrows  I  endured  in 
polygamy  censure  me  deeply  for  having  given  my 
consent  for  my  husband  to  take  another  wife.  I  will 
relate  the  facts.  We  had  lived  happily  together  for 
fifteen  years,  and  seven  children  had  been  born  to  us, 
four  of  whom  were  still  living.  When  he  told  me  of  his 
intention  to  go  into  polygamy,  he  also  said  he  had  been 
'  counseled  '  to  marry  a  certain  woman.  I  had  many 
reasons  to  regard  this  woman  with  special  aversion.  He 
had  been  advised  to  marry  this  woman  on  purpose  to 
humble  me.  It  was  like  a  drowning  man  clutching  at  a 
straw  that  I  wept  and  prayed  him  not  to  ruin  our  happy 
home.  I  reminded  him  of  what  we  had  been  to  each 
other  for  fifteen  long  years  ;  how  I  had  forsaken  all  my 
friends  for  him,  how  I  had  tried  to  be  a  good  wife  and 
mother. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  201 

"  '  It  is  well,'  he  replied,  w  that  you  think  of  your 
children  ;  for  if  you  will  not  permit  me  to  do  my  duty 
by  living  up  to  the  privileges  of  a  Latter  Day  Saint,  they 
shall  have  neither  food,  clothing,  nor  shelter  of  my  pro- 
viding during  the  coming  winter.' 

"What  could  I  do?  I  was  not  strong,  and  had  a 
three  months'  babe  at  my  breast,  and  could  not  go  out 
to  work  for  their  support ;  neither  could  I  bear  to  see 
them  suffer.  '  Then,'  said  I,  '  choose  any  other  woman 
in  the  world  rather  than  the  one  you  have  named.'  He 
answered,  '  She  it  must  be,  and  there  need  be  no 
trouble.  You  keep  your  side  of  the  house,  and  mind 
your  children,  and  I  will  make  her  keep  hers.' 

"  '  Henry,'  said  I,  '  the  day  that  woman  enters  this 
house  will  be  the  last  day  of  happiness  for  us ! '  'I 
can  not  help  it,  Mary,'  he  replied.  '  I  am  determined  to 
live  my  religion  ;  and  if  you  know  when  you  are  well 
off  you  will  not  make  any  fuss.' 

"  Again  I  ask,  What  could  I  do?  Nothing.  I  went 
to  the  Endowment  House,  and  gave  as  wife  to  my 
husband  the  woman  that  I  most  hated  and  despised  of 
all  women  in  the  world.  I  saw  her  enter  my  house  and 
take  my  place  in  the  heart  of  the  man  for  whom  I  had 
given  up  all  that  I  held  dear  in  this  life. 

"  I  could  tell  you  how  all  that  was  evil  in  my  nature 
was  fostered ;  how  we  women  together  changed  my  kind 
and  tender  husband  into  a  perfect  brute.  But  of  what 
avail?  There  was  neither  law,  justice,  nor  mercy  for 
women  in  this  territory  then." 

One  man  of  brutal  instincts  had  two  wives,  and  they 
had  made  his  house  at  times  like  the  infernal  regions,  an 
abode  of  strife  and  discord.  Upon  his  death-bed,  his 
first  wife  went  to  enter  the  room  where  he  was,  when  his 


202  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

second  wife  held  the  door  against  her,  and  it  had  to  be 
forced  open.  Another  polygamous  first  wife  who  was 
present  said  to  the  offending  woman  :  "  This  is  his  wife, 
and  she  has  a  right  to  be  here,  and  you  have  not."  In 
the  meantime  the  poor  old  first  wife  of  the  dying  man 
stood  by  his  bedside,  weeping,  when  the  woman  con- 
tinued :  "  Why  do  you  weep  ?  You  should  rather  laugh, 
for  you  are  now  freed  from  your  misery.  There  lies  the 
man  who  wrecked  your  happiness,  powerless  to  harm  you 
any  more  !  "  Then,  touching  the  hand  of  the  dying  man, 
she  exclaimed,  "  Thank  God,  this  hand  can  never  again 
strike  a  woman  I"  Nearly  all  the  occupants  of  the  room 
left  in  horror,  frightened  at  this  woman  who  appeared 
like  an  avenging  angel. 

Another  polygamous  wife  says  :  "  After  awhile  it  be- 
came impossible  for  me  to  control  myself,  and  our 
house  was  a  perfect  hell,  as  every  polygamous  house 
is,  no  matter  what  the  advocates  of  polygamy  may  say 
to  the  contrary.  I  affirm  that  I  have  been  intimate  with 
many  polygamous  families  from  those  highest  in  author- 
ity down,  and  I  have  never  known  one  where  hatred 
and  discord  did  not  exist.  I  have  known  families 
who  were  extolled  as  models,  where  the  most  disgraceful 
quarrels  were  of  daily  occurrence,  and  where  the  wives 
had  scarcely  risen  from  their  knees  after  family  devo- 
tions before  they  would  renew  their  quarrels  and  bestow 
the  lowest  kind  of  epithets  upon  each  other.  I  defy  any 
man  or  woman  in  this  territory  to  cite  one  instance  of  a 
polygamous  family  where  there  is  anything  approaching 
harmony." 

One  woman,  who  had  been  brought  to  the  verge  of 
the  grave  by  her  husband's  taking  a  second  wife,  says 
that  her  husband  watched  with  her   during    the    nights. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  203 

"Sometimes  the  new  wife  shared  his  night-watches  by 
my  bedside  ;  at  other  times  she  managed  to  have  some 
other  person  do  so,  that  I  might  have  no  opportunity  to 
talk  with  him  alone,  lest  I  should  regain  my  old  influence 
over  him.  One  night  when  they  thought  me  asleep,  he 
said  :  '  We  must  not  blame  Sarah  too  much,  for  she  loved 
me  devotedly.'  'That  may  be  so,'  she  replied;  'but, 
William,  you  know  that  I  love  you  just  as  well  as  she  ever 
has,  and  I  should  die  if  you  should  take  another  whom  you 
would  love  more  than  you  do  me.'  I  felt  as  if  I  could 
spring  from  the  bed  and  choke  her,  but  controlled 
myself  to  wait  for  his  reply.  '  You  need  never  fear 
that,  Louise,'  said  he  ;  '  I  shall  never  care  for  any  one 
but  you  ! ' 

"  I  experienced  a  thousand  deaths  in  those  few  moments, 
and  my  love  for  my  husband  was  struck  dead  at  one 
blow.  Then  I  made  a  vow,  which  I  kept  only  too  well, 
that  he  should  care  for  another,  and  that  this  second 
should  endure  the  same  torments  I  had  experienced. 
I  laid  my  plans  well  and  was  in  no  haste." 

She  then  recounts  the  steps  she  took  to  get  her  hus- 
band to  marry,  without  the  knowledge  or  suspicion  of  the 
second  wife,  a  third  wife,  and  one  whom  the  second  had 
discharged  as  a  hateful  servant-girl,  and  continues  her 
narrative  thus  :  — 

"After  returning  from  the  wedding,  I  sent  word  to 
Louise  to  come  and  take  supper  with  me,  as  I  had  com- 
pany I  would  like  her  to  meet.  When  she  came  in  we 
were  all  seated  in  the  parlor,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the 
satisfaction,  I  may  say  exultation,  I  felt  as  I  said : 
'  Louise,  allow  me  to  present  brother  B.  and  his  third 
wife.  They  were  married  to-day,  and  will  come  and  live 
with  you  next  week.' 


204  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

"  She  turned  scarlet,  then  pale  as  death,  and  I  thought 
she  was  going  to  faint.  But  instead,  she  broke  into  a 
terrible  rage  which  frightened  all  the  rest.  Some  years 
later  she  literally  died  of  a  broken  heart,  when  she  found 
it  impossible  to  win  him  back. 

"I  was  once  counted  an  amiable  woman,  but  polyg- 
amy has  made  me  a  cold,  calculating,  heartless  woman, 
with  no  faith  in  any  religion  whatever." 

A  sixteen-year-old  girl,  who  was  reared  to  believe  in 
polygamy,  became  a  third  wife,  but  soon  learned  to  hate 
the  system,  and  told  her  husband  that  she  should  leave 
him,  and  asked  him  to  continue  to  help  support  their 
children.  He  refused,  and  she  appealed  to  a  high 
church  officer.  He  heard  her  story  and  then  said : 
"  Sister  H.,  you  know  that  in  the  church  you  are  a  wife, 
and  your  children  are  perfectly  legitimate,  but  outside 
the  church  you  will  be  nothing  but  a  common  ivoman.  A 
Latter  Day  Saint  could  not  conscientiously  contribute  to 
the  support  of  the  children  of  a  prostitute.  Do  you  not 
think  you  better  remain  where  you  are  ?  " 

It  takes  some  courage  for  a  poor  woman,  without 
friends,  with  a  family  of  dependent  children,  and  in 
midst  of  thick  slanders  upon  her  character,  to  face  the 
world  alone,  under  such  circumstances. 

In  southern  Utah,  where  Mormonism  and  polygamy 
are  found  in  their  darkest  features,  there  lived  in  a 
miserable  hut  of  two  small  rooms  a  Saint  with  three 
wives,  all  of  whom  had  children.  Two  of  the  wives 
were  sisters,  and  the  third  was  the  daughter  of  one  of 
these  sisters  by  a  former  husband.  This  third  wife  left 
him  and  married  another  man,  who  soon  died,  and  she 
then  returned  to  her  first  husband,  and  brought  her 
children  by  her  second  husband   with    her,    and  one  of 


Tlie  Mormon  Delusion.  205 

these  children,  a  young  girl,  was  also  married  to  this 
first  husband,  thus  becoming  fourth  wife  to  an  old  wretch 
who  had  for  his  three  other  wives  her  mother,  grand- 
mother, and  great-aunt ! 

The  very  worst  class  of  women  in  Mormonism,  and 
those  who  do  the  most  injury,  are  those  who  are  too 
intelligent  to  believe  that  there  was  ever  a  revelation 
commanding  polygamy,  and  who  know  full  well  its  evil 
effects.  They  are  hypocrites  in  religion,  and  degraded 
in  character.  They  are  now  not  only  the  defenders  of 
polygamy,  but  are  zealous  to  drag  others  into  it.  "  The 
earth  holds  no  viler  of  their  sex  than  some  of  these 
women." 

A  young  woman,  who  was  reared  in  a  polygamous 
household  of  a  church  dignitary,  and  was  familiar  with 
the  part  that  some  of  these  women   are  acting,  said  :  — 

"I  can  only  compare  these  women  to  those  dreadful 
characters  that  they  say  exist  in  the  outside  world, 
whose  business  it  is  to  lure  young  girls  to  destruction. 
They  are  nothing  but  tools  of  the  priesthood ;  and  while 
professing  to  be  working  for  the  elevation  of  women  are 
in  reality  doing  nothing  but  seeking  new  victims  to  gratify 
the  base  passions  of  their  infamous  masters." 

The  Mormon  women  have  a  society  called  the 
"  Female  Relief  Society  ;  "  but  its  real  objects  are  the 
spread  of  polygamy  and  the  gathering  of  tithes  for  the 
advance  of  Mormon  interests  at  Washington  City  and 
in  national  newspapers.  The  chief  topics  discussed  at 
their  meetings  are  polygamy,  subservience  to  husbands, 
and  implicit  obedience  to  the  priesthood.  This  female 
organization  is  constantly  at  work  carrying  out  the  plans 
of  a  licentious  and  tyrannical  priesthood.  Young  girls 
are  brought  to  these   meetings   to  be   taught  these  doc- 


206  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

trines,  and  when  they  are  fourteen  or  sixteen  j^ears  of 
age  they  are.  told  they  must  be  "sealed"  to  Brother 
So-and-So,  and  that  thus  their  eternal  happiness  and  glory 
will  be  assured.  And  those  reared  thus  become  plural 
wives  almost  without  hesitation.  Some  girls  say:  "We 
shall  have  to  live  in  polygamy  any  way,  and  we  may  as 
well  marry  in  it,  and  be  third  wives  as  first  wives." 

These  female  teachers  of  polygamy  make  a  semi- 
annual tour  of  the  territory,  visiting  every  settlement, 
holding  meetings  and  expounding  the  beauties  and  glories 
of  polygamy,  and  exhorting  the  sisters  to  be  faithful 
followers  of  "the  new  and  everlasting  covenant  of 
marriage." 

When  calls  are  made  for  money  to  be  used  in  main- 
taining a  lobby  and  its  corruption  fund  at  Washington 
City,  this  "  Female  Relief"  (  !)  Society  begins  its  work 
of  levying  on  the  poor.  Every  egg  and  every  ounce  of 
butter  available  is  called  for,  under  penalty  of  excom- 
munication, and  money  is  thus  squeezed  out  of  the  very 
body  and  blood  of  these  poor  people. 

Mrs.  Ann  Eliza  Young,  the  "  wife  No.  19  "  of 
Brigham  Young,  after  she  had  fled  from  Utah,  wrote  as 
follows  :  — 

' '  Ever  since  my  escape  from  the  dark  prison-house  of 
polygamous  slavery  into  the  light  of  freedom  and 
Christianity,  one  thought  has  been  in  my  mind  —  to 
show  to  every  woman  the  contrast  between  the  lives  of 
women  in  Utah  and  those  in  other  parts  of  this  great 
land.  If  I  could  make  the  women  of  Utah  understand 
what  a  glorious  sense  of  freedom  one  feels  upon  breaking 
away  from  the  gloom  and  misery  of  an  existence  under 
the  teachings  of  the  Mormon  priesthood,  and  coming 
into  the  society    and    civilization    which    is    based    upon 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  207 

Christianity,  which  protects  the  family  and  honors 
womanhood ;  if  they  could  only  see  and  feel  even  a 
little  of  the  wonderful  difference  in  the  two  cases,  then 
it  seems  to  me  they  would  make  every  effort,  run  almost 
any  risk,  to  break  their  chains  and  find  true  liberty. 
When  I  first  began  to  travel  and  go  into  the  houses  of 
this  country,  I  was  filled  with  new  sensations  to  see  the 
respect  and  courtesy  shown  by  husbands  to  wives  —  the 
affectionate  solicitude  for  their  comfort,  the  glad  welcome 
given  after  separation,  the  pride  which  husbands  seemed 
to  feel  in  their  wives.  It  was  all  so  wonderful  and  new 
to  me  !  How  many,  many  times  did  tears  spring  to 
my  eyes  at  witnessing  so  often  the  tender  parting  of 
husbands  and  wives,  or  the  joyous  greetings  after  only  a 
few  days  of  separation.  What  touched  me  most  of  all 
was  the  anxious  and  unceasing  care  which  frail  or  sick 
wives  received  from  their  husbands.  Such  things  are 
of  such  daily  occurrence  that  people  do  not  notice  them, 
but  such  devotion  is  unknown  to  the  women  of  Utah, 
except  it  be  to  the  reigning  favorite.  And  every  Mor- 
mon woman  knows  how  certain  it  is  that  even  this 
favoritism  will  be  transient." 

Some  scenes  in  polygamy  are  as  ludicrous  as  they  are 
coarse.  One  who  had  three  wives  took  a  fourth.  The 
three  wives  secreted  all  eatables,  so  that  when  he  returned 
with  his  new  wife  from  the  long  and  fatiguing  ceremonies 
of  the  Endowment  House,  there  was  not  only  no  sup- 
per prepared,  but  not  a  crust  to  be  found.  The  baffled 
husband  took  his  bride  to  a  compassionate  neighbor,  who 
provided  a  meal.  They  returned  about  midnight,  found 
the  doors  and  windows  secured  and  barred,  and  no 
amount  of  knocking  could  get  them  open.  After  stand- 
ing in  a  pouring  rain  for   nearly   an   hour,    they   agaiu 


208  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

applied  to  the  neighbor  for  hospitality.  One  of  the 
wives  afterwards  said  that  nothing  in  her  life  gave  her 
so  much  satisfaction  as  seeing  those  two  standing  out- 
doors at  midnight  in  a  drenching  rain  ! 

A  Mormon  bishop,  who  had  two  wives,  refused  to 
postpone  his  marriage  to  the  third  on  account  of  the 
dangerous  illness  of  his  first  wife,  and  she  died  and  was 
buried  without  the  presence  of  her  husband,  who  was  on 
his  wedding  journey. 

Another  Mormon  married  his  first  wife's  servant-girl, 
and  when  the  two  quarreled,  severely  whipped  and 
bruised  the  first  wife,  saying,  "  I  am  determined  to  live 
my  religion  if  it  kills  us  all." 

Some  tourists  in  Utah  were  on  a  fishing  excursion, 
when  one  fell  sick,  and  they  sought  shelter  at  a  cabin  of 
one  room,  occupied  by  three  beds  and  three  wives  ;  and 
one  wife  remarked  that  they  were  "  more  crowded  than 
usual,  as  the  old  man  had  brought  home  a  new  wife  that 
day."  A  Mormon  first  wife,  whose  husband  had  several 
other  wives,  lost  by  sickness  her  two  only  children,  and 
when  a  neighbor  was  making  sympathetic  remarks  to  the 
father,  he  said:  "My  poor  wife  is  indeed  broken  down 
with  grief,  but  it  is  not  so  bad  for  me,  for  you  know  I 
still  have  sixteen  children  by  the  other  women." 

A  Mormon  lost  his  only  wife  by  death,  and  five  poWga- 
mists  officiated  at  the  funeral  and  descanted  upon  the 
advantages  of  polygamy,  and  one  said:  "We  should 
sympathize  with  our  brother  more  deeply,  for  he  has  lost 
his  only  companion.  If  I  should  lose  one  of  my  com- 
panions I  should  still  have  several  left  to  console  and 
comfort  me." 

What  effect  must  it  have  upon  a  woman's  modesty  when 
she  must  often  say  of  her  husband  :  "He  is  gone  to  stay 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  209 

with  some  of  the  other  women  "  !  What  effect  upon  chil- 
dren who  talk  about  "  father's  week  at  the  other  house  ;  " 
who  discuss  freely  which  is  his  favorite  woman,  and  why, 
and  to  the  children  of  which  one  he  is  most  indulgent ! 
One  woman,  who  knows  the  facts  by  experience,  says  : 
"  Mormon  youth  and  children  are  precocious  in  wicked- 
ness to  a  remarkable  degree,  and  lacking  in  that 
simplicity  and  innocence  which  is  a  natural  attribute  of 
children.  Most  Mormon  men  enter  polygamy  only  from 
licentious  motives  and  pure  wickedness." 

Ninety  per  cent  of  polygamous  marriages  are  entered 
into  when  the  other  or  favorite  wife  is  in  a  delicate  con- 
dition, and  the  neglect  of  the  husband  and  her  hatred 
toward  the  new  wife  produce  most  deleterious  effects 
upon   the  offspring. 

The  dreadfuluess  of  the  situation  is  sometimes  relieved 
by  the  amusing.  One  day  a  bishop  called  upon  a 
faithful  Mormon  family,  who,  although  living  happily, 
had  neglected  the  privileges  of  plural  families,  and  began 
to  exhort  the  husband  to  "  live  his  religion"  and  take 
another  wife.  The  angry  wife  seized  the  broom  and 
said  :  "  Get  out,  you  villain!  "  and  rapidly  laid  the  blows 
upon  his  head  and  shoulders.  Hurrying  to  the  door  and 
into  the  street,  he  supposed  he  had  escaped,  but  he  found 
the  broomstick  still  falling  frequently  upon  his  head 
while  he  ran  up  street  until  he  turned  the  next  corner. 

"The  writer  knew  a  family  that  lived  in  such  a  home 
as  he  will  now  describe.  The  house  was  constructed  of 
logs,  and  contained  but  two  rooms,  about  fourteen  feet 
square ;  overhead  some  rough  boards  had  been  placed 
upon  the  timbers,  making  a  little  loft  beneath  the  roof ; 
outside  a  small  shed  had  been  constructed,  where  fuel  was 
stored  in  winter  and  a  stove  placed  in  summer ;  and  in 


210  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

that  house  lived  a  man  with  eight  wives  and  over  twenty 
children !  There  was  a  bed  in  each  of  the  two  rooms, 
trundle-beds  beneath,  and  cots  overhead,  while  some  of 
the  children  slept  constantly  in  the  barn.  But  this  home 
was  luxurious  as  compared  with  certain  homes  that  he 
saw  in  Utah.  The  reader  can  imagine,  or  rather,  he 
can  not  imagine,  what  kind  of  training  and  discipline 
prevails  in  such  homes,  and  what  kind  of  moral  influ- 
ences prevail  there."  1 

' '  Orson  Pratt  was  the  great  theologian  of  the  Mormon 
Church.  Mrs.  Pratt  gave  me  the  history  of  her  strug- 
gles and  those  of  her  husband  when  the  order  came  from 
the  priesthood  that  he  should  enter  into  plural  marriage, 
a  decree  which  is  inevitable,  which  is  irresistible,  which 
is  written  above  every  marriage  altar  by  ghostly  fingers 
in  filmy  outline,  which  on  some  fateful  morning  some 
stray  sunbeam  shall  bring  out  into  colors  of  inky  black- 
ness and  flash  upon  the  startled  wife  the  terrible  sen- 
tence :  '  Thy  kingdom  is  finished.' 

"  The  life  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pratt  had  been  one  of 
exceptional  unity,  and  long  he  resisted  the  instruction 
of  the  priesthood.*  Night  after  night  he  came  home  to 
toss  upon  a  couch  of  thorns,  '  to  sleep,  perchance  to 
dream.'  But  the  fatal  night  came.  He  returned  to  his 
home  about  midnight.  He  opened  the  door.  His  wife, 
faithful  in  her  vigils,  rose  to  meet  him.  There  was  a 
rigidity  of  the  muscles,  a  pallor  of  the  cheeks,  such  as 
the  death  angel  will  never  paint.  He  laid  his  icy  hands 
in  hers,  his  colorless  lips  parted,  and  in  a  husky  voice  he 
said,  '  It  is  all  over,  wife.  I  have  consented  to  take  a 
second  wife.' 

"As  though  an  arrow  had  pierced  her  soul,  she  fell  at 
his  feet  as  one  dead,  without  pulse,  without  breath. 
1  The  Mormon  Problem,  p.  142. 


TJie  Mormon  Delusion.  211 

"  A  little  further  oil  we  see  this  devoted  husband  aud 
father  transformed  into  a  fiend.  We  see  him  with  two, 
three,  five  wives  !  He  was  worth  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars  when  he  went  to  Utah,  and  yet  Mrs. 
Pratt  was  soon  sitting  in  midwinter  without  fire  or  fuel, 
her  shivering  children  crowded  about  her.  The  husband 
and  father  enters.  His  benumbed  soul  uo  longer  responds 
to  the  appealing  eyes  of  the  sufferers.  He  looks  upon  the 
ruin  he  has  wrought,  the  home  where  Want's  gaunt  figure 
stalks  undisguised  and  thrusts  his  skeleton  fingers  at  their 
heart-strings.  Yet  he  is  not  stirred.  In  response  to 
their  shivering  appeal  he  replies,  '  I  have  other  and 
younger  families  ;  you  must  shift  for  3-ourselves  ; '  and 
he  slammed  the  door  and  left  them  to  their  fate. 

"Mrs.  Pratt  told  me  that  many  and  many  a  night  she 
had  gone  out  in*  the  pitiless  winter  storm  and  walked 
around  the  building  that  sheltered  Mr.  Pratt  and  another 
wife,  and  felt  that  with  her  icy  fingers  she  could  dig  out 
every  brick  in  the  walls.  There  she  would  have  perished, 
but  that  her  little  boys,  who  had  learned  to  miss  her, 
would  spring  from  their  sleep  to  come  out  in  the  storm 
and  lead  her  home. 

"  Said  one  of  these  mothers  to  me  :  '  Do  not  talk  to  me 
about  this  government !  The  flag  that  floats  over  this 
city  mocks  at  woman's  tears.  It  never  saved  my  daugh- 
ter from  the  tyrant's  lust  or  the  despot's  fury.  I  have 
often  asked,  Is  there  a  God  in  heaven?  and  if  so  the 
cries  of  the  broken  hearts  in  the  secret  graves  of  these 
valleys  must  long  ago  have  jostled  his  very  throne.  Yet 
where  is  the  angel  of  deliverance? '  "  1 

It  is  related  that  this  Mrs.  Sarah  M.  Pratt,  when 
surrounded  with  the  polygamy   mania  and  the    dangers 

"■Mrs.  Angie  F.  Newman  before  the  United  States  senate  committee  on 
territories. 


2i\2i  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

of  the  Reign  of  Terror  in  Utah,  was  accustomed  to 
gather  her  five  little  boys  closery  around  her  in  the 
center  of  the  sitting-room  and  then  talk  to  them  in 
whispers  of  her  hatred  of  polygamy,  lest  even  the 
very  walls  of  her  own  home  should  have  spying  ears 
and  she  should  be  betrayed  unto  the  priesthood.  Her 
boys  all  stood  by  her  and  are  to-day  non-Mormon  citi- 
zens of  Utah.  Mrs.  Pratt  was  a  woman  of  remarkable 
strength  of  mind,  and  of  such  irreproachable  character 
that  even  the  Mormons  never  succeeded  in  despoiling 
it.  She  died  in  Salt  Lake  City,  at  an  advanced  age, 
on  Christmas  morning,   1888. 

Out  of  twenty  leading  Mormon  women  in  Salt  Lake 
City,  one  was  born  in  Maine,  one  in  Vermont,  three 
in  Massachusetts,  two  in  Connecticut,  six  in  New  York, 
one  in  West  Virginia,  one  in  Indiana,  two  in  England, 
and  two  in  Salt  Lake  City  ;  that  is,  seven  were  born 
in  New  England,  and  six  in  New  York,  and  seven 
elsewhere. 

Would  the  readers  like  to  see  what  women  who  are 
polygamists  have  to  say  themselves  in  defence  of  the 
plural  wife  system?  They  shall  be  gratified  with  the 
following  nauseating  words  from  some  of  the  leading 
plural  wives  of  Salt  Lake  City.1 

"Polygamy,  at  different  periods,  has  been  practiced 
as  a  corrector  of  evils  and  a  promoter  of  purity.  .  .  . 
It  was  revealed  to  the  prophet  Joseph  Smith  that  there 
were  thousands  of  spirits,  yet  unborn,  who  were  anx- 
iously waiting  for  the  privilege  of  coming  down  to  take 
tabernacles  of  flesh,  that  their  glory  might  be  complete. 
This,  Lucifer  and  his  armies,  who  were  cast  out  of 
heaven  down  upon  this  planet,  have  been  doing  their 
1  Why  we  Practice  Plural  Marriage,  pp.  7,  10,  and  31. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  213 

utmost  to  prevent.  Their  greatest  punishment  is  in  not 
having  bodies,  and  their  mission  is  to  throw  dust  in  the 
eyes  of  the  children  of  men,  that  they  may  not  see 
the  truths  of  heaven.  It  is  through  Lucifer's  wicked 
schemes  that  so  many  thousands  of  tabernacles  have 
been  and  are  being  destroyed,  and  thereby  those  choice 
spirits  have  been  hindered  from  coming  into  this  state  of 
existence,  which  event  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to 
them.  But  the  work  of  the  Almighty  is  rushing  towards 
its  completion,  which  makes  this  plural  wife  system  an 
actual  necessity.  It  was  our  Father  in  heaven  who 
commanded  that  it  should  be  established,  and  we  have 
nothing  to  fear  for  what  we  have  done.  It  is  a  con- 
troversy between  G-od  and  Satan.  The  principle  was 
established  by  the  prophet  Joseph  Smith,  and  all  who 
have  entered  into  it  in  righteousness  have  done  so  for 
the  purpose  of  raising  a  righteous  seed  ;  and  the  object 
is  that  we  may  be  restored  back  to  that  Eden  from 
whence  we  fell." 

"  If  I  had  not  known  that  my  husband  was  actuated  by 
the  purest  of  motives  and  by  religious  principle,  I  could 
not  have  fortified  myself  against  that  '  demon,  Jeal- 
ousy.' I  do  not  believe  I  could  have  submitted  for  a 
moment.  I  was  afraid  of  no  man,  but  I  feared  to  rebel 
against  the  Almighty,  though  at  times  it  was  like  the 
tearing  of  my  very  heart-strings,  and  it  took  much 
prayer  and  struggling  to  overcome.  Yet  through  it  all 
I  have  stood  as  a  pillar  by  the  side  of  my  husband,  and 
can  say  with  truth  that  my  soul  has  been  purified  and 
my  love  has  become  more  exalted.  My  willing  and 
undivided  heart  is  laid  upon  the  altar.  ...  I  know  by 
my  own  experience  and  that  of  my  sainted  mother, 
and  also  of  other  first  wives,  who  have  acted  their  part 


214  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

nobly,  that  they  have  not  only  retained  the  affection  of 
their  husbands,  but  to  see  such  a  great  sacrifice  made 
by  the  wife  of  his  bosom  has  increased  his  love  and 
exalted  her  in  his  eyes.  I  have  had  this  testimony  from 
different  husbands  and  wives." 

"My  father  had  a  number  of  wives.  Some  were  old 
ladies  who  chose  to  be  sealed  to  him,  but  he  never  lived 
with  them  only  to  support  them.  Different  ones  of  his 
wives  lived  with  my  mother  at  various  times,  and  they 
all  loved  her  and  she  loved  them.  ...  I  assure  you 
there  is  as  much  delicacy,  modesty,  and  refinement 
among  those  who  live  in  this  plural  order  as  can  be 
found  anywhere,  and  I  am  acquainted  with  some  model 
families.  One  or  two  I  will  mention.  A  young  man 
took  two  sweet  women  as  his  wives,  one  some  time 
previous  to  the  other.  .  .  .  The  two  women  are  nearly 
always  seen  together.  The  children  love  and  cling  to 
the  first  wife  more,  even,  than  to  their  own  mother. 
Another  is  a  well-to-do  man,  a  widower,  who  married  a 
3Toung  lady  and  soon  after  wedded  another.  Both  were 
young  and  pretty,  and  are  good,  industrious  wives. 
Each  has  a  large  family  of  children.  The  wives  loved 
each  other  from  the  first  and  have  appeared  like  twin- 
sisters,  dressing  alike  when  the}7  went  out  together. 
The}r  live  under  one  roof,  though  in  different  apartments, 
and  are  well  provided  for.  They  are  separated  only  by 
a  hall.  If  there  has  ever  been  any  jealousy,  I  should 
say  it  was  on  the  husband's  side,  on  account  of  their 
mutual  devotion.  I  could  mention  others,  but  these 
will  probably  suffice.  Polygamy  is  not  the  worst  trial 
in  the  world,  for  it  has  been  made  honorable  among 
our  people,  and  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  man  nor  of 
Congress  to  make  it  otherwise." 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  215 

"  Mormon  women  are  not  so  ignorant  as  some 
suppose.  We  know  the  power  we  hold  to  declare 
polygamy  illegal.  If  there  was  any  necessity,  or  if 
we  felt  our  chains  to  be  galling,  we  could  assuredly 
avail  ourselves  of  it  and  call  upon  the  United  States 
army  stationed  here  to  protect  us.  .  .  .  The  means 
gathered  to  assist  in  reforming  the  '  Mormons,'  in  free- 
ing the  '  poor  down-trodden  women  from  their  polygamous 
yoke,'  is  a  most  ridiculous  farce.  It  will  compare  with 
the  collecting  of  money  for  the  poor  heathen,  who  would 
have  been  better  off  a  thousandfold  had  they  never  seen 
a  '  Christian.'  " 

It  need  only  be  said  concerning  the  above  that  the 
women  who  write  such  driveling  nonsense  are  those  who 
are  in  polygamy  themselves,  and  are  enwrapped  with  it 
through  relationships.  Their  only  chance  to  maintain 
any  respectability  lies  in  the  estimation  in  which  polyg- 
amy is  held.  They  maintain  a  sort  of  respectability  if 
polygamy  is  held  to  be  respectable  ;  if  it  be  looked  upon 
as  a  wicked  device  of  sensual  men,  then  they  go  down  to 
a  very  low  level.  Since  they  have  not  the  moral  honesty 
which  would  lead  them  frankly  to  denounce  polygamy  as 
a  shameful  sin  under  all  circumstances,  their  only  effort 
is  to  put  on  a  bold  face,  claim  that  they  are  ivives,  and 
defend  the  iniquitous  system,  even  if  they  must  do  so  in 
such  a  feeble  manner  as  in  the  above. 


216  The  Mormon  Delusion. 


CHAPTER  XL 

TO    AND    FRO    IN    THE    EARTH.  METHODS    OF    MORMON 

MISSIONARIES. 

THE  right  wing  of  the  Mormon  Church  work  is  its 
missionary  army.  The  elders  from  Utah  who  are 
abroad  in  all  the  earth  calling  themselves  missionaries 
are  the  forage  corps  that  gathers  in  the  victims  upon 
which  the  Utah  monster  feeds  and  fattens.  They  are  the 
"  crank"  hunters  and  the  delusion  scavengers. 

"One  elder  testifies  that  in  October,  1849,  he  was 
drafted  to  go  to  Great  Britain,  having  no  intimation  of 
what  was  in  store  for  him  till  a  motion  was  carried  to  that 
effect,  but,  notwithstanding,  fitted  himself  out  at  the  cost 
of  nearly  all  he  had  in  the  world,  and  within  eight  days 
was  off  through  the  canons. 

"  Nor  must  it  by  any  means  be  supposed  that  though 
Mormon  missionaries  are  commonly  unlettered  and  are 
selected  so  often  in  a  way  so  full  of  haphazard,  they  pos- 
sess no  furnishing  for  their  difficult  task.  On  the  con- 
trary, though  after  the  peculiar  Mormon  fashion,  they 
usually  go  forth  fully  armed  and  equipped.  From  child- 
hood, and  every  Sunday,  every  boy  is  drilled  in  the 
doctrines  of  the  church  and  supplied  with  proof -texts  by 
the  hundred." 

"  The  falling  away  of  those  who  have  professed  to  be 
converted  to  Mormonism  would  discourage  any  other 
people.  An  elder  of  twenty-five  years'  standing  affirms 
that  not  one  in  twenty  who  starts  holds  out.  Of  the 
eleven  famous  and  original  '  witnesses,'  nine  turned  their 
back  upon  the  church,  and  that  within  ten  years.     Of  the 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  217 

first  twelve  '  apostles,'  Joseph  once  exclaimed,  '  All  but 
two  have  lifted  up  the  heel  against  me  ! '  and  out  of  a 
total  of  thirty-four  twelve  became  apostate."  ] 

The  number  of  these  missionaries  increases  from  year  to 
year.  During  the  late  years  since  the  enforcement  of  the 
United  States  laws  against  polygamy  and  unlawful  cohab- 
itation, the  leaders  have  had  so  good  a  prospect  of  being 
sent  to  the  penitentiary  that  hundreds  of  them  have  fled 
the  country,  or  gone  into  hiding,  or,  by  changing  their 
names,  have  scattered  through  the  United  States.  Wher- 
ever these  fugitives  from  justice  have  gone,  they  have 
become  missionaries  of  their  faith.  As  their  crimes  are 
outlawed  in  three  years  (as  the  law  now,  1890,  stands), 
they  remain  away  during  that  length  of  time,  and  then 
return  to  their  harems,  like  the  sow  "  to  her  wallowing  in 
the  mire."  During  this  exile  in  foreign  lands,  or  in  hid- 
ing in  our  own  country,  they  most  industriously  seek  to 
delude  people  into  becoming  Mormons. 

One  such  was  in  Denmark  in  1889,  an  old  Dane  from 
Spanish  Forks,  Utah,  who  has  ten  or  fifteen  wives,  and 
to  escape  the  penitentiary  took  his  favorite  wife  and  fled 
to  his  native  land.  If  it  be  possible,  he  and  many  others 
like  him  will,  in  foreign  lands,  deceive  "  the  very  elect." 
All  such  deserve  the  exposure  and  condemnation  of  every 
good  citizen,  and  the  severest  penalties  of  the  laws  of 
any  country  to  which  they  may  flee. 

The  easiest  victims  to  Mormonism  are  those  who  have  a 
deep  religious  nature  and  are  inclined  to  be  fanatical. 
Add  to  these  elements  ignorance  and  the  visions  of  plenty 
which  the  New  World  holds  out  to  the  poor  of  other  lands, 
and  we  can  partly  understand  why  so  many  foreigners  are 
deluded  into  this  maelstrom  of  fanaticism  and  sin.     The 

1  Rev.  D.  L.  Leonard,  in  The  Andover  Review. 


218  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

universal  inclination  in  the  United  States  to  "  go  West" 
leads  many  in  our  own  country  to  give  attentive  ears  to 
the  seductive  songs  of  these  recruiting  agents.  Spirit- 
ualists and  "  free-lovers"  make  fruitful  soil  in  which  to 
sow  the  seeds  of  Mormonism. 

These  Mormon  elders  are  adepts  at  deception  and 
falsifying,  and  they  lead  their  dupes  to  believe  that 
Utah  is  a  very  paradise  of  God,  a  land  of  plenty,  the 
home  of  real  saints  and  apostles,  in  whose  mountains  God 
meets  the  Mormon  prophet  face  to  face. 

The  methods  of  the  Mormon  elders  and  missionaries 
are  most  deceptive  from  first  to  last.  They  are  the  most 
untruthful  people  in  the  world.  They  get  their  converts 
by  falsehoods,  and  by  falsehoods  and  delusive  hopes 
allure  them  to  Utah ;  and  then  by  renewed  falsehoods, 
the  poverty  and  helplessness  of  their  victims,  by  threats 
and  tyranny,  they  hold  them  until  death.  They  go  out 
by  twos,  professedly  "  without  purse  or  scrip,"  and  beg 
a  night's  lodging  or  a  few  days'  board.  In  recent  years 
they  are  generally  supplied  with  money  and  pay  their  way 
or  beg,  at  intervals,  according  as  they  judge  to  be  best 
for  their  cause. 

When  once  thus  inside  a  family,  they  cautiously  begin 
to  preach  their  views,  keeping  back  all  their  bad  doctrines, 
deceiving  their  intended  victims  with  the  "  milk  for 
babes  "  of  a  good  gospel.  They  say  much  about  repent- 
ance, faith,  and  baptism,  as  if  these  were  their  leading 
doctrines,  whereas  they  are  only  the  net  with  which  they 
fish.  They  also  represent  that  they  have  left  family  and 
home  and  country  for  the  sake  of  preaching  this  gospel ! 

By  degrees  they  ingratiate  themselves  into  the  esteem  of 
the  family  ;  soon  they  begin  to  talk  about  the  visions  which 
God  is  now  again  giving  to  men  through  the  Mormons,  or 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  219 

Latter  Day  Saints  ;  and  that  he  is  again  making  so-called 
il  revelations"  to  men,  and  that  any  true  Saint  may  have 
the  visits  of  angels.  When  they  have  thus  made  one  or 
two  converts  they  begin  to  hold  public  meetings,  gener- 
ally, at  first,  in  some  out-of-the-way  place  and  in  a  private 
house.  Their  worst  doctrines  are  broached  only  by  de- 
grees, as  they  find  their  converts  deluded  or  "  cranky" 
enough  to  receive  them.  Thus  they  weave  their  webs 
and  enwrap  their  blinded  followers.  It  is  uncertain, 
during  this  time,  whether  or  not  these  Mormon  elders 
will  restrain  their  animal  passions  and  illicit  loves. 

It  is  said  that  there  dwells  in  the  sea  a  tiny  living 
thing  whose  stomach  is  stretched  all  over  the  outside  of 
its  body,  and  that  if  any  morsel  of  food  touches  this 
stomach  at  any  point,  there  opens  immediately  at  that 
place  a  mouth  which  takes  it  in.  Upon  a  similar  plan 
the  Mormon  missionaries  work.  They  adapt  themselves 
to  those  for  whom  they  are  angling,  not  according  to  the 
apostle  Paul's  method,  but  by  an  utter  disregard  of  the 
truth.  They  will  affirm  or  deny  anything  or  everything 
as  touching  their  religion  or  their  own  belief  or  pur- 
poses, with  the  most  unblushing  apparent  innocence. 
These  are  severe  things  to  sa}7,  but  the  truth  of  history 
requires  that  they  be  said.  Their  sixty  years  of  open 
record  in  this  matter  brings  confirming  voices  from  ten 
thousand  places  where  this  has  been  their  practice. 
Thus  it  has  been,  and  still  is,  with  these  missionaries. 
In  1888,  in  Minneapolis,  Minnesota,  at  the  close  of  an 
address  against  Mormonism,  a  Mormon  missionary  arose 
and  began  to  reply,  saying,  however,  that  he  was  "  no 
Mormon  ;  "  and  then  denied  that  polygamy  was  then  or 
ever  had  been  a  doctrine  of  the  Mormon  Church.  At 
the  same  time,  several  persons  were  in  the  audience  who 


220  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

testified  at  the  close  of  the  meeting  that  this  man  had 
visited  their  homes  and  tried  to  persuade  them  to  become 
Mormons. 

Mrs.  Stenhouse  says  that  no  one  who  knows  them 
would  think  of  believing  anything  which  a  Mormon  mis- 
sionary elder  might  say  about  his  religion. 

There  is  only  one  safe  rule,  and  that  is  to  consider 
that  everything  which  a  Mormon  elder  says  is  false, 
whether  of  affirmation  or  denial.  It  is  either  all  false, 
or  is  a  mixture  of  lying  and  some  truth.  All  foreigners 
in  Utah  who  have  given  up  Mormonism  testify7  in  every 
case  that  they  were  deceived  by  the  Mormon  mission- 
aries ;  that  they  discovered  when  it  was  too  late  the 
lying,  deceptions,  and  frauds  practiced  upon  them. 

A  Scandinavian  lady  missionary  of  high  character, 
laboring  in  Utah,  sent  to  the  author  in  1888  the  following 
testimonies  upon  this  point :  ' '  We  came  here  twelve 
years  ago.  Deceiving  missionaries  had  told  us  it  was 
such  an  earthly  paradise.  We  did  not  find  it  as  rep- 
resented, either  as  to  the  country  or  the  church.  They 
had  kept  back  from  us  the  worst  doctrines,  and  we  took 
no  comfort  in  Mormon  meetings  after  we  got  here." 

An  aged  Danish  lady  in  Salt  Lake  City  says:  ki  We 
left  Copenhagen  in  1851  to  come  to  Utah.  Enticing 
missionaries  had  pictured  its  glories  to  us.  But  we  did 
not  find  as  it  was  told  us.  We  knew  nothing  about 
polygamy  until  we  came  here,  and  other  bad  beliefs  were 
revealed  to  us  from  time  to  time.  Mormon  church  officers 
stripped  us  of  all  our  property  and  gave  us  nothing  in 
return.  AVhen  I  had  nothing  to  live  on  but  what  was 
given  me,  the  church  officers  insisted  on  my  paying  tith- 
ing.    Our  want  and  woe  have  become  beyond  endurance." 

A   Norwegian  family   say :    ' '  Soon  after  we  got  here 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  221 

we  learned  to  our  sorrow  that  we  had  been  enticed  and 
deceived,  both  about  the  church  and  the  country.  For 
a  long  time  we  continued  to  attend  Mormon  services,  for 
our  lives  were  in  jeopardy  if  we  dared  assert  our  dis- 
appointment. When  we  finally  left  the  church,  Brigham 
Young  and  others  came  and  demanded  our  property ; 
letters  were  sent  us  threatening  to  hang  us.  We  had  to 
defend  our  lives  and  property  by  armed  resistance,  and 
had  thus  to  keep  on  guard  night  and  day  for  years." 

Thus  most  foreigners  of  all  nationalities,  especially 
the  poor,  the  wives,  and  the  unprotected  young  girls, 
have  been  most  bitterly  disappointed  upon  their  arrival 
in  Utah.  It  is  often  asked,  "  Why,  then,  do  they  not 
turn  back  and  come  away?"  "  Poverty''''  is,  in  most 
cases,  the  sufficient  answer.  Since  the  railroads  have 
gone  into  Utah  and  the  United  States  officers  are  there 
in  force  all  the  year  round,  it  is  much  less  difficult,  but 
even  now  the  wretched  poverty  of  those  who  have  been 
real  victims  of  Mormon  deceptions  holds  them  there. 
It  is  almost  impossible  for  those  who  are  not  familiar 
with  the  situation  of  the  poor  people  in  Utah  and  the 
conditions  which  surround  them  to  understand  how  diffi- 
cult it  is,  for  many  reasons,  for  such  to  come  away  from 
Utah.  They  are  indeed  very  poor  ;  they  generally  have 
large  families  ;  they  are  strangers  in  a  strange  land  ;  are 
densely  ignorant  about  other  parts  of  the  United  States, 
and  have  been  taught  that  the  states  are  the  modern 
"  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  ;  "  are  very  far  away  from  those 
who  would  succor  them  ;  are  under  a  remorseless  and 
cruel  hierarchy  which  forbids  their  leaving,  and  pun- 
ishes weakness  in  the  Mormon  faith  with  social  and 
business  ostracism,  refusal  of  employment,  destruction 
of  crops,  and  (in  times  recently  past)  by  the  burning  of 


222  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

buildings  and  by  secret  assassinations.  There  are  man}7 
thousands  now  in  Utah  and  adjoining  territories  whose 
life  hopes  have  thus  been  crushed  out,  and  who  are  mis- 
guided, full  of  fear,  smothered,  and  unheard. 

The  hymns  of  the  Mormon  Church  give  a  clear  insight 
into  some  of  the  methods  of  their  missionaries.  The  call 
to  the  missionaries  and  to  their  flocks  is  sung  thus  :  — 

Come  all  ye  sons  of  God,  who  have  received  the  Priesthood, 
Go  spread  the  Gospel  wide,  and  gather  in  His  people ; 

The  latter-day  Work  has  begun,  to  gather  scattered  Israel  in, 
And  bring  them  back  to  Zion,  to  praise  the  Lamb. 

Come  all  ye  scattered  sheep,  and  listen  to  your  Shepherd ; 
While  you  the  blessings  reap,  which  long  have  been  pre- 
dicted ; 
By  Prophets  long  it  's  been  foretold,  He  '11  gather  you  into 
His  fold ; 
And  bring  you  home  to  Zion  to  praise  the  Lamb. 

The  congregations  cheer  the  departing  elders  by  such 
stanzas  as  these  :  — 

O  Lord,  preserve  Thy  chosen  seed, 

They  've  keenly  felt  the  stroke 
Of  vile  oppression's  iron  grasp, 

And  every  Gentile  yoke. 


And  bring  Thy  long-since  scattered  band 
Unto  their  lands  again. 

Thy  servants  too,  preserve  from  harm 
As  through  the  earth  they  roam. 

Thrones  shall  totter,  Babel  fall, 
Satan  reign  no  more  at  all; 
Saints  shall  gain  the  victory, 
Truth  prevail  o'er  land  and  sea, 
Gentile  tyrants  sink  to  hell ; 
Now  's  the  day  of  Israel ! 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  223 

When  the  elders  have  reached  their  recruiting  grounds 
and  made  such  progress  that  they  venture  to  hold  public 
meetings,  they  then  sing  with  great  enthusiasm  such 
hymns  as  the  following  :  — 

Israel,  Israel,  God  is  calling ; 

Calling  thee  from  lands  of  woe; 
Babylon  the  great  is  falling, 

God  shall  her  towers  o'erthrow. 
Come  to  Zion 

E'er  His  floods  of  anger  flow. 

The  dawning  of  that  day  has  come, 
See!  Abra'm's  sons  are  gath'ring  home; 
And  daughters  too,  with  joyful  lays, 
Are  hast'ning  here  to  join  in  praise. 

Then  hail  to  Deseret, 

A  refuge  for  the  good, 
And  safety  for  the  great, 
If  they  but  understood 
That  God  with  plagues  will  shake  the  world 
Till  all  its  thrones  shall  down  be  hurled. 

Deseret.  Deseret !  O,  I  love  to  be  there, 
With  my  brethren  and  sisters  each  blessing  to  share, 
Nor  regret  I  "ve  forsaken  the  land  of  my  birth, 
To  dwell  on  that  sweet,  favored  spot  of  the  earth, 
Where  Brigham  and  Heber  and  Daniel  preside, 
With  all  the  full  quorums  of  Priesthood  beside; 
Where  the  Law  of  the  Lord  is  the  standard  of  life 
Apart  from  foul  Babylon's  darkness  and  strife. 

With  seductive  winning  they  sing  :  — 

There  is  a  place  in  Utah  that  I  remember  well, 
And  there  the   Saints  in   peace,   and  joy,  and  plenty,   ever 
dwell ; 


224  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

My  Mountain  Home,  thou  *rt  dear  to   me !   to   thee   I  fondly 

cling, 
While  here  I  roam,  far  from  my  home,  my  Mountain  Home 
I  sing, 

My  Valley  Home,  My  Mountain  Home, 
The  dear  and  peaceful  Valley ! 

And  again  :  — 

Come,  go  with  me  beyond  the  sea, 

Where  happiness  is  true, 
Where  Joseph's  land,  blest  by  God's  hand, 

Inviting  waits  for  you. 

When  the  many  sufferings  during  the  long,  long 
journey  to  Utah  cause  the  feet  of  many  to  be  weary 
and  the  courage  of  some  to  droop,  the  elders  have 
the  whole  company  join  in  a  hearty  singing  of  the 
following  verses :  — 

Cheer,  Saints,  cheer !     We  're  bound  for  peaceful  Zion ! 

Cheer,  Saints,  cheer,  for  that  free  and  happy  land ! 
Cheer,  Saints,  cheer !     We  '11  Israel's  God  rely  on ; 

We  will  be  led  by  the  power  of  his  right  hand. 

Cheer,  Saints,  cheer !  etc. 

Very  few  persons  know  how  great  are  the  numbers 
who  are  converted  to  Mormonism  in  foreign  lands  and 
brought  to  Utah.  This  will  be  illustrated  by  showing 
the  extent  of  their  work  in  a  single  country  —  Scandi- 
navia. The  Mormons  keep  the  most  complete  statistics 
of  all  their  missionary  operations.  The  author  procured 
from  them,  not  without  difficulty,  the  official  statistics 
of  their  missionary  work  in  Scandinavian  countries  for 
thirty-two  years,  ending  December  31,  1881.  From  this 
book  we  extract  the  following  table.  The  statistics  of 
each  country  are  not  given  separately,  but  Sweden, 
Denmark,  and  Norway  are  all  classed  together  as  the 
"  Scandinavian  Mission." 


The  Mormon  Delusion. 


225 


Statistics   of  Mormon  Missions   in  Scandinavian 
Countries   from   the  Year  1850   to   1881. 


Elders  from 

Date  when 

Conference 

Zion   (i.e., 

Total 

Emigrated 

begun. 

Branches. 

Missionaries 
from  Utah). 

Converts. 

to  Utah. 

1850 

4 

135 

17 

1851 

12 

3 

475 

1852 

3 

1,036 

28 

1853 

48 

5 

2,063 

195 

1854 

69 

2 

2,447 

783 

1855 

79 

2 

2,692 

311 

1856 

94 

1 

2,988 

113 

1857 

142 

3 

3,353 

603 

1858 

125 

3,709 

70 

1859 

145 

2 

3,934 

263 

1860 

145 

12 

4,416 

240 

1861 

.     166 

14 

5,585 

455 

1862 

155 

9 

5,800 

1,177 

1863 

132 

10 

5,644 

1,061 

1864 

93 

8 

5,454 

601 

1865 

84 

23 

5,388 

454 

1866 

83 

18 

4,959 

831 

1867 

78 

19 

4,941 

248 

1868 

70 

12 

4,808 

622 

1869 

70 

16 

4,652 

463 

1870 

65 

15 

4,789 

275 

1871 

63 

13 

4,907 

467 

1872 

58 

11 

4,817 

605 

1873 

56 

22 

4,649 

793 

1874 

45 

18 

4,530 

674 

1875 

47 

23 

4,468 

583 

1876 

44 

24 

4,537 

402 

1877 

45 

30 

4,762 

584 

1878 

46 

35 

5,069 

589 

1879 

44 

47 

5,207 

368 

1880 

45 

56 

5,363 

549 

1881 

46 

61 

5,247 

656 

15,080 

Children  under  eight  years  are  not  included  in  the 
number  given  as  "emigrated"  to  Utah;  adding  these 
the  number  rises  to  about  twenty-one  thousand  who 
emigrated  in  fifty-five  different  companies. 

The  total  results  of  the  thirty-two  years  of  Mormon 
missionary  work  in  Scandinavia  are  summarized  as 
follows ;  — 


226  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Emigrated  to  Utah 21,000 

Number  of  missionaries  who  began  in  1850 4 

Largest  number  of  missionaries  in  any  one  year  (1881) 61 

Largest  number  of  converts  in  any  one  year  (1862) 5,800 

Number  of  converts  the  last  year  shown  (18S1) 5,247 

Average  yearly  converts  for  the  whole  thirty-two  years     4,149 

A  Swede,  now  in  Utah,  who  was  for  five  years  a  Mor- 
mon missionary  in  Sweden,  told  the  author  that  on  one 
occasion  in  a  retired  country  place  in  Sweden  he  began 
baptizing  Mormon  converts  at  eleven  o'clock  p.m.,  and 
continued  until  four  o'clock  a.m.,  and  then  fled  the 
country. 

The  rapid  growth  of  Mormonism  is  not  the  least  of  the 
marvels  connected  with  its  history. 

Despite  all  the  disgust  and  opposition  which  it  has 
everywhere  awakened,  Mormonism  has  steadily  grown, 
through  sixty  years  of  dishonor  to  our  country,  from  its 
first  church  organization  of  six  members  to  a  total 
membership  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  of  about  two 
hundred  thousand  souls.  To  these  must  be  added  their 
adherents  in  all  the  states,  and  in  many  countries  in 
various  parts  of  the  world,  which  are  probably  as  many 
more  not  yet  ''gathered  to  Zion." 

This  iniquity  has  all  tin's  time  grown  proportionally 
faster  than  the  nation  itself.  At  this  rate,  when  shall  the 
end  come  ? 

The  Mormons  control  a  territory  almost  as  large  as 
the  area  of  the  states  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania 
combined,  and  have  a  controlling  influence  in  a  tract  of 
territory  as  large  as  that  of  the  New  England  and  Middle 
States.  For  sixty  years  they  have  sent  out  an  average 
of  eighty  missionaries  per  year,  and  for  the  last  twenty 
years  have  sent  out  from  Utah  an  average  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  each  year ;  while  the  number  at  work  in 
1890  is  above  two  hundred. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  227 

During  these  sixt}T  years  this  delusion  has  been  fed  by 
gathering  converts  from  all  nations.  The  Americans 
would  probably  have  long  ago  crushed  out  this  monster 
as  they  did  in  Ohio,  Missouri,  and  Illinois,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  recruiting  streams  which  have  constantly 
poured  in  from  other  lands. 

The  Mormons,  however,  have  not  neglected  to  cultivate 
the  United  States.  Their  elders  are  operating  in  every 
state.  Even  in  Massachusetts  they  have  members  suffi- 
cient to  hold  annual  conferences  in  out-of-the-way  places  ; 
they  are  very  industriously  canvassing  the  Southern 
States,  especially  the  "  poor  white  "  communities;  while 
throughout  the  north-west  they  are  ever  on  the  alert. 
In  all  the  large  cities  their  emissaries  work  continually, 
and  not  less  effectively,  perhaps,  because  very  quietly, 
almost  secretly.  No  community  in  any  of  the  states 
may  expect  to  be  long  without  the  introduction  of  this 
virus.  They  work  "  in  the  dark,"  or  by  pretending  not 
to  be  Mormons  (which  is  a  very  common  method  among 
them),  until  they  dare  to  be  more  bold.  If  then  the 
community  offers  decided  opposition,  they  suddenly  dis- 
appear to  re-appear  in  a  new  place  where  the  same 
tactics  are  repeated.  When  the  first  community  shall 
have  forgotten  their  former  visit,  these  elders  (or  more 
probably  other  elders)  return  to  their  Jesuitical  attack. 
Thus  the  Mormon  elders  appear,  disappear,  and  re- 
appear, here  and  there,  ever  and  anon,  in  city  and 
country,  in  the  states  and  in  all  the  earth,  going  to  and 
fro,  seeking  whom  they  may  devour. 

The  following  paragraph  appeared  in  the  newspapers 
in  November,  1888,  and  similar  paragraphs  frequently 
appear  concerning  the  work  of  Mormon  elders  in  various 
parts  of  the  country  :  — 


228  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

"  Mormon  apostles  are  quite  successful  in  obtaining 
recruits  at  the  South.  A  party  of  fifty  left  Birmingham, 
Alabama,  on  Wednesday  for  Salt  Lake  City.  Of  the 
fifty,  eighteen  were  girls  between  twelve  and  twenty 
years  of  age,  sixteen  were  women  between  twent}T  and 
forty,  and  the  others  were  men  and  boys.  They  were 
of  the  poorest  class  of  country  people,  and  only  niue  of 
the  entire  party  are  able  to  read  and  write." 

About  two  thousand  converts  yearly  come  across  the 
seas  and  gather  to  Utah. 

The  extent  of  their  missionary  operations  is  amazing. 
Five  elders  were  originally  chosen  to  "roll  forth  the 
kingdom"  across  the  sea.  "  At  the  end  of  July,  landing 
in  Liverpool  without  a  farthing,  they  pushed  back  at 
once  to  Preston,  England,  and  within  thirty  days  from 
New  York  had  baptized  nine,  and  by  the  end  of  the 
year  had  made  a  thousand,  converts.  Two  years  after, 
when  just  driven  from  Missouri,  the  Twelve  were  sent  to 
enlarge  the  hopeful  work.  Herefordshire  was  the  scene 
of  their  toils  and  their  triumphs.  One  of  their  number 
baptized  eighteen  hundred  in  eight  months,  including 
two  hundred  preachers,  two  hundred  in  thirty  days,  and 
six  hundred  in  a  single  pool.  B}T  1851,  the  British 
mission  contained  nearly  thirty-three  thousand  church 
members,  while  probably  half  as  many  more  had  found 
their  way  to  Utah. 

"  As  soon  as  the  church  was  fixed  in  Utah  the  work  of 
evangelization  began  to  be  pushed  with  vigor.  Already 
in  1840  the  East  Indies  and  Australia  had  been  reached. 
In  1843  four  missionaries  had  been  sent  to  the  Society 
Islands.  In  1849  Mormon  doctrines  were  carried  to 
France;  in  1850  to  Denmark,  Sweden,  Italy,  Switzer- 
land,   and  the  Sandwich    Islands ;  in    1851    to   Norway, 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  229 

Iceland,  and  Chili ;  in  1852  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
the  Crimea,  Burma,  and  Hindustan  ;  in  1853  to  Prussia, 
the  West  Indies,  and  China ;  in  1854  to  Turkey  and 
Siam  ;  in  1855  to  Brazil ;  in  1861  to  the  Netherlands  ; 
in  1864  to  Austria,  and  in  1877  to  Mexico.  In  1855 
the  church  called  170  elders,  making  in  all  331  Mormon 
missionaries  then  in  the  field.  The  next  year  250  were 
appointed,  and  216  in  1880,  189  in  1881,  and  in  1882  a 
round  200.  Probably  not  less  than  250,000  have  been 
baptized  in  Europe,  one  half  of  them  in  the  British 
Isles,  and  Scandinavian  countries  alone  have  furnished 
some  50,000."! 

What  do  those  men  deserve  who  go  into  all  the  earth 
persuading  people  to  become  Mormons?  There  are  no 
laws  in  the  United  States  by  which  they  can  be  reached. 
If  the  righteous  indignation  of  Christian  people  could 
fairly  express  itself  against  them,  its  explosive  force 
would  hurl  them  so  far  as  to  pass  (if  it  might  be 
possible)  beyond  the  reach  of  the  law  of  gravitation, 
there  to  sink  into  eternal  darkness,  and  never  return 
to  curse  again  with  their  presence  any  planet  in  the 
universe  ! 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE    BIBLE    AND    POLYGAMY. 

THE    Mormons    would   trail   even   the    stars    of    the 
heavens-  in   the  mire  under  their   feet  to  give  an 
appearance  of  sanctity  to  their  practices.     They  claim 
that  nearly  all  the  leading  characters  in   the  Bible  were 
1  Rev.  D.  L.  Leonard,  in  The  Andover  Review. 


2o0  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

polygamists.  When  they  say  that  Christ  was  a  polyga- 
mist,  they  reach  an  extreme  in  blasphemy  from  which  the 
Christian  world  starts  back  in  righteous  indignation. 

George  Q.  Cannon,  the  polygamist  who  disgraced  the 
United  States  for  so  many  years  as  the  delegate  from 
Utah  in  Congress,  said  in  a  sermon  in  Salt  Lake  City  :  — 

"The  Bible  sustains  this  doctrine  from  beginning  to 
end.  .  .  .  There  is  nothing  with  which  the  Latter  Day 
Saints  can,  with  more  confidence,  refer  to  the  Scriptures 
for  confirmation  and  support,  than  the  doctrine  of  plural 
marriage." 

Nevertheless,  the  Mormons  do  not  claim  that  they  get 
their  authority  for  practicing  polygamy  from  the  Bible. 

In  the  same  sermon,  Mr.  Cannon  further  says  :  — 

' '  While  there  is  abundant  proof  to  be  found  in  the 
Scriptures  in  support  of  this  doctrine,  still  it  is  not  be- 
cause it  was  practiced  four  thousand  years  ago  by  the 
servants  and  people  of  God  that  the  Latter  Day  Saints 
have  adopted  it  and  made  it  a  part  of  their  practice,  but 
it  is  because  God,  our  heavenly  Father,  has  revealed  it  to 
us.  If  there  were  no  record  of  its  practice  to  be  found, 
and  if  the  Bible,  Book  of  Mormon,  Book  of  Doctrines  and 
Covenants,  were  totally  silent  in  respect  to  this  doctrine, 
it  would,  nevertheless,  be  binding  upon  us  as  a  people, 
God  himself  having  given  a  revelation  for  us  to  practice 
it  at  the  present  time." 

Orson  Pratt,  the  chief  expounder  of  Mormonism,  says  : 
"  The  Latter  Day  Saints  in  this  territory  practice  polyg- 
amy, not  because  the  law  of  Moses  commands  it ;  not 
because  it  was  extensively  practiced  by  the  best  of  men 
we  know  of  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  the  old  patriarchs, 
Abraham,  Jacob,  and  others,  who  are  saved  in  the  king- 
dom of  God.     We   have   no  right  to  practice  it  because 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  231 

the}7  did,  but  because  it  is  enjoined  upon  us  by  divine 
command." 

Indeed,  the  Mormons  themselves  originally  condemned 
polygamy.     The  Book  of  Mormon  says  :  — 

"  Behold,  David  and  Solomon  truly  had  many  wives 
and  concubines,  which  thing  ivas  abominable  before  me, 
saith  the  Lord.  .  .  .  Wherefore,  I,  the  Lord,  will  not 
suffer  that  this  people  shall  do  like  unto  them  of  old  .  .  . 
for  there  shall  not  any  man  among  you  have  save  it  be  one 
wife;  and  concubines  he  shall  have  none." 

The  Mormon  Book  of  Doctrines  and  Covenants,  in  a 
revelation  claimed  to  have  been  given  to  Joseph  Smith  in 
1831,  says:  — 

"  Thou  shalt  love  thy  wife  with  all  thy  heart,  and  shalt 
cleave  unto  her,  and  unto  none  else." 

How  this  same  false  Joseph  Smith  should,  in  1843, 
claim  to  have  received  another  "revelation"  from  the 
same  Lord,  commanding  the  practice  of  polygamy,  is 
explained  as  follows  by  the  Mormons  :  — 

"  The  first  command  was  given  in  1831,  when  the  one- 
wife  system  alone  prevailed  among  this  people.  In  the 
forepart  of  the  year  1832,  Joseph  told  individuals  then  in 
the  church  that  he  had  inquired  of  the  Lord  concerning 
the  principle  of  the  plurality  of  wives,  and  he  received 
for  answer  that  the  principle  of  taking  more  wives  than 
one  was  a  true  principle,  but  the  time  had  not  yet  come 
for  it  to  be  practiced.  That  was  before  the  church  was 
two  years  old."  l 

The  Mormons  therefore  waive  all  right  to  base  their 
polygamous  practices  upon  the  Bible,  or  upon  the  custom 
among  any  other  people,  and  rest  their  case  solely  upon 
the    so-called   "revelation"   of    Joseph    Smith   in    1843. 

!The  Bible  and  Polygamy,  p.  81. 


232  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

That  ';  revelation,"  as  has  clearly  been  shown  in  the  fore- 
going pages,  was  born  out  of  the  lust  of  Joseph  Smith 
and  out  of  the  resistance  of  his  wife  to  his  lewd  practices. 
Downward,  then,  to  this  low  depth  of  filth  have  the 
Mormons  gone  for  their  excuse  ! 

However,  so  long  as  they  drag  the  Bible  into  their 
muddy  stream,  their  pretexts  must  be  recorded.  Many  of 
their  arguments  are  simply  untruthful  and  unsupported 
assertions,  having  not  even  a  foundation  in  fact.  When 
any  of  these  false  statements  are  exposed,  they  imme- 
diately coin  others  as  startling.  To  undertake  to  chase 
them  through  this  labyrinth  would  be  folly.  We  will, 
therefore,  notice  only  their  leading  arguments  which  have 
some  show  of  basis  in  the  Bible. 

They  say  that  the  children  of  plural  wives  mentioned 
in  the  Jewish  history  were  to  have  the  same  blessings  as 
the  children  of  first  wives.  This  claim  is  based  upon 
Deuteronomy  21  :  15-17,  and  that  is  simply  a  provision 
to  protect  the  oldest  son  in  his  inheritance,  whether  he 
be  the  son  of  the  first  wife  or  of  the  second.  It  gives 
no  endorsement  of  polygamy.  But  the  Bible  gives  some 
conspicuous  instances  where  the  children  of  the  first  wife 
are  specially  blessed  of  the  Lord,  while  the  children  of 
other  wives  and  concubines  are  not  thus  favored.  Take 
the  case  of  Abraham  and  Sarah  and  Hagar,  as  given  in 
the  seventeenth  and  twenty -first  chapters  of  Genesis. 
When  Sarah  came  to  hate  Hagar  and  her  son  Ishmael, 
she  besought  Abraham  that  he  would  "  cast  out  this 
bondwoman  and  her  son  ;  "  and  God  approved  of  Sarah's 
request  by  saying  to  Abraham,  u  In  all  that  Sarah  hath 
said  unto  thee,  hearken  unto  her  voice."  Then  Abraham 
cast  forth  his  polygamous  family.  When  God  foretold 
to  Abraham  that  Ishmael  would  become  a  great  nation, 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  233 

he  also  specially  selected  Isaac,  the  son  by  the  first  wife, 
to  receive  the  blessing,  and  said  :  "  But  my  covenant  will 
I  establish  with  Isaac,  which  Sarah  shall  bare  unto  thee," 
etc.  Futhermore,  God,  in  speaking  of  Isaac,  seems  to 
ignore  the  polygamous  offspring,  Ishmael,  and  repeatedly 
refers  to  Isaac  as  the  only  son  —  "thy  son,  thine  only 
son"  (Genesis  22  :   2,  12,  16). 

The  Mormons  make  a  further  use  of  Deuteronomy 
21:   15-17,   which  says:  — 

"  If  a  man  have  two  wives,  one  beloved,  and  another 
hated,  and  they  have  born  him  children,"  etc. 

Concerning  this  verse  the  Mormons  argue  :  — 

"  We  have  a  right  to  believe  from  this  law  that  plural- 
ity of  wives  is  just  as  legal  and  proper  as  that  of  the 
marriage  of  a  single  wife.  .  .  .  They  are  acknowledged 
as  wives  in  this  passage  at  least  —  '  If  a  man  have  two 
wives.' "  * 

That  this  argument  has  no  force  whatever  will  appear 
from  the  following  verses,  where  it  is  manifestly  improper 
to  argue  thus  :  — 

"  If  a  man  have  a  stubborn  and  rebellious  son,"  etc. 
(Deuteronomy  21  :   18). 

"  If  a  man  be  found  stealing  any  of  his  brethren,"  etc. 
(Deuteronomy  24  :   7). 

"  If  a  man  shall  steal  an  ox,  or  a  sheep,"  etc.  (Exodus 
22:   1). 

"  And  if  a  man  have  committed  a  sin  worthy  of  death," 
etc.  (Deuteronomy  21:   22). 

If,  because  it  is  said,  "  If  a  man  have  two  wives," 
etc.,  therefore  the  Bible  sanctions  polygamy,  then,  by 
the  same  reasoning,  we  must  say  that  in  the  passages 
quoted  above  the  Bible  sanctions  having  stubborn  sons, 

1  Orson  Pratt,  in  The  Bible  and  Polygamy,  p.  10. 


234  TJie  Mormon  Delusion. 

stealing  brethren  and  oxen  and  sheep,  and  committing 
sins  worthy  of  death  —  which  is  an  absurdity. 

The  Mormons  argue  that  God  specially  blessed  the 
children  of  Jacob  by  Rachel,  who  was  a  second  polyg- 
amous wife.  It  should  be  noted  that  Rachel  was  Jacob's 
first  love  and  his  only  love  :  ' '  And  Jacob  served  seven 
years  for  Rachel ;  and  they  seemed  unto  him  but  a  few 
days,  for  the  love  he  had  to  her."  Then  Laban  practiced 
a  fraud  upon  Jacob,  and  it  was  not  until  the  next  morn- 
ing after  the  wedding  that  Jacob  found  that  Leah,  whom 
he  did  not  love,  and  whom  he  had  not  intended  to  marry, 
had  been  wedded  to  him.  Considering  the  different  ideas 
prevalent  in  those  days  about  such  matters  from  what 
would  now  be  considered  right,  and  especially  consider- 
ing the  power  of  the  father  over  his  children  at  that 
time,  amounting  almost  to  full  ownership  as  property, 
Jacob  did  what  was,  by  the  ideas  of  that  age  (and  also 
of  the  present  day  in  some  eastern  countries),  the  best 
thing  he  could  do  under  the  hard  circumstances  in  which 
he  was  placed.  His  polygamy  was  forced  upon  him  b}T  a 
fraud.  By  the  ideas  of  those  times  he  was  an  example 
of  righteousness  in  working  seven  more  years  to  secure 
Rachel.  So  far  from  approving  of  his  polygamy,  the 
Lord  seems  rather,  from  his  blessings  upon  the  children 
of  Rachel,  to  show  his  sympathy  with  Jacob  and 
Rachel  and  his  approval  of  marriage  for  true   love. 

It  may  also  be  said  that  Jacob  is  nowhere  spoken  of  as 
a  saintly  man  until  after  his  wrestliug  and  conversion  at 
the  brook  Jabbok  ;  and  that  Laban's  fraud  upon  him  was 
very  similar  to  his  own  fraud  upon  Esau. 

The  Mormons  also  claim  that  Moses  was  a  polygamist 
in  that  he  took  an  Ethiopian  woman  while  he  already  had 
Jethro's  daughter  for  his  first  wife.     This  may  be  igno- 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  235 

ranee  on  the  part  of  the  Mormons  in  not  knowing  that 
Zipporah  and  the  Ethiopian  woman  are  one  and  the  same 
person.  Even  if  they  were  not  identical,  there  is  then 
no  proof  that  Zipporah  was  not  dead  before  he  took  the 
Ethiopian  woman.  "  Midian  "  and  "  Ethiopia"  are  iden- 
tical terms,  meaning  the  country  where  Jethro  lived  ;  and 
the  "priest  of  Midian"  was  Jethro  himself;  and  Moses 
was  not  a  polygamist.1 

The  Mormons  attempt  to  draw  an  argument  from  the 
following  verses  :  — 

"  If  brethren  dwell  together,  and  one  of  them  die,  and 
have  no  child,  the  wife  of  the  dead  shall  not  marry  with- 
out unto  a  stranger  :  her  husband's  brother  shall  go  in 
unto  her,  and  take  her  to  him  to  wife,  and  perform  the 
duty  of  an  husband's  brother  unto  her. 

"And  it  shall  be,  that  the  firstborn  which  she  beareth 
shall  succeed  in  the  name  of  his  brother  which  is  dead, 
that  his  name  be  not  put  out  of  Israel "  (Deuteronomy 
25:  5,  6). 

The  Mormons  here  argue  that  sometimes  the  surviving 
brother  would  be  already  a  married  man  with  a  living 
wife,  and  that,  nevertheless,  this  would  be  a  law  unto 
him,  and  he  is  thus  commanded  to  become  a  polygamist. 
The  Utah  polygamists  claim  that  this  is  an  argument  of 
conclusive  force. 

On  the  contrary,  they  can  not  prove  that  this  law 
applied  to  married  men,  and  the  presumption  is  that  it 
did  not.  The  object  of  the  law  was  the  preservation  of 
the  family  line  and  the  family  inheritances.  Not  an 
instance  can  be  found  in  the  Bible  where  a  married  man 
was  compelled  to  obey  this  law.  In  the  case  of  Tamar, 
the  brother  who   was  to  have    married  her   had    to  wait 

1  Bishop  John  P.  Newman,  in  The  Bible  and  Polygamy,  p.  60. 


236  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

until  he  grew  up.  In  the  case  of  Ruth,  Boaz  would  not 
marry  her  until  her  nearer  kinsman  had  refused,  and 
Josephus  says  that  the  reason  that  this  nearer  kinsman  did 
not  marry  Ruth  was  because  he  was  already  a  married 
man  ;  and  there  is  no  proof  that  Boaz  had  been  married.1 

Exodus  21  :  7-10  is  claimed  to  support  polygamy,  but 
entirely  without  reason  ;  for  it  simply  provides  for  the 
protection  of  a  betrothed  maiden  in  case  the  man  to 
whom  she  is  engaged  does  not  fulfill  his  agreement,  but 
marries  another  woman. 

Numbers  31  :  13-18  is  also  quoted  for  the  purpose  of 
arguing  that  the  female  prisoners  of  war  were  to  become 
polygamous  wives.  This  inference  is  purely  a  gratuitous 
assumption,  without  any  proof.  The  Jews  then  num- 
bered about  two  and  one-half  millions  of  people,  and 
these  captives  in  war  were  to  be  made  domestic  slaves, 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  time. 

The  Mormons  argue  that  Exodus  22  :  16,  17  and  Deu- 
teronomy 22  :  28,  29  are  applicable  to  married  men,  but 
there  is  no  proof  whatever  that  such  is  the  case,  and 
no  instance  can  be  cited  in  support  of  that  interpreta- 
tion. In  order  that  they  may  make  the  New  Testament 
seem  to  support  their  abominations,  the  Mormons  quote 
in  published  sermons  the  following  verse  in  the  way  here 
given  :  — 

"  I,  Jesus,  have  sent  mine  angel  to  testify  unto  you 
these  things  in  the  churches.  I  am  the  root  and 
offspring  of  [the  polygamist]  David,  the  bright  and  the 
morning  star." 

They  also  quote  God's  promise  to  Abraham  (Genesis 
17:5)  to  make  him  "a  father  of  many  nations,"  and 
Mark  10  :   29,30,   and  deliberately  argue  that  these  and 

1  Bishop  John  P.  Newman,  in  The  Bible  and  Polygamy,  p.  43. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  237 

similar  promises  can  not  be  fulfilled  except  through  the 
practice  of  polygamy.  This  is  a  fair  specimen  of  their 
lack  of  candor  in  argument.  They  do  not  seem  to  think 
that  all  sensible  people  will  call  to  mind  that  the  human 
race  began  with  oue  husband  and  one  wife  in  Eden,  and 
that  the  monogamic  nations  of  the  earth  have  multiplied 
through  all  history,  and  are  multiplying  to-day  "  so  many 
as  the  stars  of  the  sky  in  multitude,  and  as  the  sand 
which  is  by  the  sea  shore  innumerable." 

The  Mormons  make  much  of  Isaiah  4:1:  "  And  in 
that  day  seven  women  shall  take  hold  of  one  man,  say- 
ing, We  will  eat  our  own  bread,  and  wear  our  own 
apparel :  only  let  us  be  called  by  thy  name,  to  take  away 
our  reproach."  This  passage  does  not  give  a  shadow  of 
sanction  to  polygamy.  A  time  of  grievous  calamity  is 
predicted,  wherein  the  loss  of  men  in  war  should  pro- 
duce so  great  a  preponderance  of  females  that  instances 
would  occur  where  some  women  would  lose  their  native 
modesty,  and  one  man  might  have  seven  suitors  for  his 
hand.  A  mere  prediction  carries  with  it  no  sanction  of 
the  act  predicted  ;  no  more  than  does  Christ's  foretelling 
that  Judas  would  betray  him  imply  an  approval  of  that 
treachery. 

It  is  said  in  1  Timothy  3  :  2  :  "A  bishop  then  must  be 
blameless,  the  husband  of  one  wife,  vigilant,  sober,  of 
good  behaviour,  given  to  hospitality,  apt  to  teach."  The 
Mormons  say  that  this  means  that  a  bishop  must  be  "  the 
husband  of  one  wife  "  —  "at  least  one  wife,  if  not  more." 
Such  manifest  subterfuges  in  argument  and  interpretation 
are  scarcely  worthy  of  notice,  except  as  they  belong  to 
the  history  of  the  very  weak  literature  on  this  subject. 

The  Mormons  have  two  general  arguments  from  the 
Bible    which,   they   urge,    give     sanction    to    polygamy, 


238  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

namely :  —  1.  That  Abraham,  Jacob,  Gideon,  David, 
Solomon,  and  other  characters  recorded  in  the  Bible 
were  polygamists. 

2.  That  God  does  not  reproach  Abraham,  Jacob,  etc., 
on  account  of  their  polygamy. 

These  two  arguments  they  amplify  and  reiterate  almost 
without  limit.  The}7  say  that  because  Isaiah,  Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel,  Christ,  and  the  apostles  do  not  definitely  mention 
and  denounce  polygamy  by  name,  therefore  they  all  sanc- 
tion it.  They  repeat  to  weariness  this  further  illogical 
argument  that  because  some  leading  Bible  characters 
were  polygamists,  therefore  polygamy  is  a  divine  institu- 
tion and  has  the  sanction  of  the  Bible. 

In  reply  to  these  statements  several  things  are  to  be 
said  :  — 

1.  Because  the  Bible,  in  giving  the  history  of  certain 
men,  records  that  they  had  plural  wives,  it  does  not, 
therefore,  follow  that  God  sanctions  the  plural-wife  sys- 
tem. That  reasoning  would  make  God  to  approve  of  all 
the  wicked  deeds  recorded  in  the  Bible  which  were  not 
specifically  denounced  ;  and  all  historians  to  be  approvers 
of  all  the  deeds  which  they  merely  record.  Because  the 
inspired  historians  record  that  Jacob  deceived  Isaac,  that 
Gideon  was  at  one  time  guilty  of  idolatry,  and  that  Peter 
denied  his  Lord,  and  do  not  also  at  the  same  time  declare 
the  wickedness  of  such  sins,  therefore  (according  to  the 
reasoning  of  the  Mormons)  God  approves  of  deceit,  idol- 
atry, and  falsehood. 

On  the  other  hand,  such  records  show  the  imperfections 
of  the  men  named,  and  the  severe  fidelity  of  the  inspired 
writers  that  they  would  thus  record  the  evil  as  well  as  the 
good  deeds  of  their  characters,  and  so  leave  a  true  and 
an  impartial  history  ;  but  they  give  no  approval  of  the 
Utah  evil. 


TJie  Mormon  Delusion.  239 

2.  God  works  through  men.  Man  is  an  imperfect 
being.  God,  therefore,  to  accomplish  his  purposes 
among  men,  works  through  the  agency  of  imperfect 
men.  Among  all  the  race,  where  has  there  been  one 
perfect  man,  save  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  through  whom 
God  could  work?  In  both  biblical  and  profane  history 
are  recorded  many  great  and  good  deeds  of  men  who 
were,  in  some  respects  or  at  some  period  in  their  lives, 
not  only  imperfect,  but  even  very  wicked. 

Although  such  men  as  Gideon  and  David,  in  the  hands 
of  providence,  wrought  great  deeds  in  behalf  of  God's 
kingdom  in  the  earth,  yet  they  were  also  stained  with 
sins.  But  since  the  inspired  record  nowhere  gives  any 
approval  of  their  wickedness,  it  can  not  be  properly 
argued  that  God  favors  such  evil-doing. 

3.  Polygamy  existed  among  the  nations  with  whom  the 
Old  Testament  deals.  Not  at  once  could  such  a  deeply 
rooted  custom,  with  its  many  complications,  be  destroyed. 
Under  the  Mosaic  law  Christ  says  that  God  permitted 
divorces  under  certain  circumstances  on  account  of  "  the 
hardness  of  their  hearts."  So  in  the  Old  Testament  times 
God  tolerated  those  who  had  a  plurality  of  wives,  but  he 
never  sanctioned  the  system.  He  restrained  and  discour- 
aged it,  knowing  that  his  primal  law  of  marriage  would 
eventually  lead  his  followers  to  cast  it  off  utterly.  And 
so  they  did.  Wherever  on  the  earth  the  Bible  has  been 
believed  and  its  precepts  followed,  from  the  time  of  Christ 
downward,  there  polygamy  has  been  spurned  and  out- 
lawed. The  children  of  Israel  had  been  four  hundred 
years  in  the  debasing  degradation  of  Egyptian  slavery, 
and  yet  during  all  their  journey  forth  from  Egypt  to 
Canaan  their  detailed  history  reveals  but  two  cases  of 
polygamy.     There  may  have  been  other  cases,  but  the 


240  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

practice  could  not  have  been  common  without  its  coming 
to  the  light  much  more  often  than  appears  in  the  Bible 
narrative.  And  through  all  the  centuries  embraced  in 
the  Old  Testament  record  but  twenty-five  or  thirty 
instances  of  the  existence  of  this  practice  are  given. 
In  the  New  Testament  polygamy  never  appears  among 
the  disciples  of  Christ ;  and  to  this  day  all  Christian 
people  of  every  race  or  nation  regard  it  as  an  intolerable 
abomination.  The  Mormons  are  no  exception  to  this 
statement,  for  they  are  not  Christian  people.  They  scorn 
and  slander  Christianity.  Their  claim  to  believe  the  Bible 
is  a  mere  pretext,  and  is  one  of  the  chief  among  their 
innumerable  false  professions.  The  Bible  has  no  real 
believers  or  friends  among  the  Mormons. 

4.  Throughout  the  Bible  the  only  law  and  teaching 
respecting  marriage  is  that  it  shall  be  between  one 
man  and  one  woman,  and  they  shall  be  one  husband 
and  one  wife  —  "one  flesh."  The  marriage  in  Eden  is 
the  pure  model  for  the  race.  The  primal  marriage  law 
for  all  ages   and  races  was  there  given:  "Therefore 

SHALL  A  MAN  LEAVE  HIS  FATHER  AND  HIS  MOTHER,  AND 
SHALL  CLEAVE  UNTO  HIS  WIFE  :  AND  THEY  SHALL  BE  ONE 

flesh  "   (Genesis  2  :  24) . 

Had  the  plural-wife  system  been  instituted  by  God, 
would  he  not  have  created  and  given  to  Adam  more  than 
one  wife?  Would  not  the  law  then  have  been  that  "a 
man  shall  cleave  unto  his  wives"  ?  So  again  God  took 
into  the  ark  four  men  and  their  four  wives,  according  to 
the  model  in  Eden. 

Christ  re-affirmed  the  law  given  in  Eden  with  emphasis  : 
"  Have  ye  not  read,  that  he  which  made  them  at  the 
beginning  made  them  male  and  female,  and  said,  For 
this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  father  and  mother,  and  shall 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  241 

cleave  to  his  wife  :  and  they  twain  shall  be  one  flesh  ? 
Wherefore  they  are  no  more  twain,  but  one  flesh.  What 
therefore  God  hath  joined  together,  let  not  man  put 
asunder"  (Matthew  19:  4-6). 

Can  a  polygamist  cleave  to  his  first  wife  ?  Can  they 
twain  be  one  flesh?  Furthermore,  every  husband  who 
takes  a  plural  wife  thereby  "  puts  asunder  "  all  the  true 
''husband  and  wife"  relations  which  before  existed 
between  him  and  his  first  and  only  real  wife. 

Paul  repeats  this  law  with  the  utmost  distinctness : 
"  Let  every  man  have  his  own  wife,  and  let  every  woman 
have  her  own  husband  "  (1  Corinthians  7:2). 

Thus  there  was  given  in  the  morning  of  the  race  this 
beautiful  law  of  marriage  —  one  husband  to  one  wife; 
proclaimed  anew  by  Christ  at  the  opening  of  the  new 
dispensation,  and  reinforced  by  the  apostle  Paul  when 
the  gospel  began  to  be  preached  to  the  Gentile  world. 
Furthermore,  there  is  not  one  word  in  the  Bible  counter- 
manding this  law  or  giving  any  approval  of  the  plural- 
wife  system. 

It  is  not  to  be  overlooked  that  the  instances  of 
polygamy  recorded  in  the  Bible  begin  in  wickedness, 
and  while  they  continue  sin  abounds. 

Sarah  was  sad,  unreconciled,  and  angry  because  God 
had  not  bestowed  upon  her  the  blessing  of  children, 
which  was  among  her  people  the  chief  crown  of  woman- 
hood. In  her  rebellious  impatience  she  gave  her  maid 
Hagar  to  her  husband  to  be  his  wife,  saying,  "It  may 
be  that  I  may  obtain  children  by  her"  (Genesis  16  :  2). 
Sarah  seemed  to  have  the  idea  that  she  herself  was  to 
have  in  some  sort  the  honor  of  being  the  mother  to 
Hagar's  children.  Through  his  wife's  sin  Abraham  also 
was  led  into  sin.     Next  the  maid  despised  her  mistress, 


242  Tlie  Mormon  Delusion. 

and  a  bitter  jealous}7  and  hatred  sprang  up  between  these 
two  wives,  as  naturally  as  the  same  thing  occurs  in  Utah 
in  these  later  times.  Sarah  abused  Hagar.  The  jealousy 
between  the  mothers  descended  to  the  children,  and 
Hagar's  son  "  mocked"  when  a  feast  was  made  in  honor 
of  the  weaning  of  the  baby  Isaac ;  and  then  Sarah, 
apparently  with  the  divine  approval,  drove  Hagar  and 
her  son  out  of  the  family,  and  God  gave  his  peculiar 
blessings  to  the  son  of  the  first  wife.  The  whole  case 
as  recorded  is  the  history  of  one  sin  after  another  until 
the  unnatural  wife  is  evicted.  It  reads  like  a  chapter  of 
to-day  from  thousands  of  wretched  families  in  Utah. 

Let  it  be  noted  also  that  the  birth  of  Isaac  showed  that 
Sarah's  sin  in  giving  her  husband  a  plural  wife  was 
unnecessary  even  in  order  that  she  should  have  offspring. 
Had  she  waited  in  patience  the  Lord's  time  when  she 
could  present  her  own  son  Isaac  to  Abraham,  how  much 
sin  and  misery  would  have  been  avoided  ! 

Just  the  same  sins  are  again  repeated  in  the  case  of 
Jacob  and  his  wives  as  have  been  repeated  times  innum- 
erable wherever  polygamy  has  been  tolerated.  Jacob  was 
led  into  polygamy  by  the  fraud  of  Laban  ;  the  fierce  jeal- 
ousy of  Rachel  toward  Leah  led  her  to  commit  the  sin  of 
giving  her  maid  to  her  husband.  Then  the  anger  of  Leah 
is  so  aroused  against  Rachel  that  she  retaliates  by  giving 
her  maid  to  Jacob.  Thus,  at  every  step,  there  was  sin, 
jealousy,  and  hate ;  and  the  sins  of  both  Rachel  and 
Leah  in  giving  their  maids  to  Jacob  proved  to  be  even 
without  the  poor  excuse  of  spiting  the  other  wife,  since 
they  both  themselves  afterwards  bore  children. 

Polygamy  is  a  sin,  and  all  its  wages  ;  ;  death  !  How 
rapidly  in  Bible  history  polygamy  brought  ruin  to  kings  !. 
Saul  had  two  wives ;    David,   ten  wives  ;  Solomon,  one 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  243 

thousand;  and  then  came  depraved  character,  idolatry, 
and  the  kingdom  in  ruins  ! 

These  are  some  of  the  polygamists  of  Bible  history  : 
Lamech,  the  murderer  ;  Jacob,  the  deceiver  and  the  de- 
ceived ;  David,  a  seducer  and  murderer;  Solomon,  the 
idolater.  "  Now  let  me  call  the  roll  of  honor.  There 
were  Adam,  Enoch,  Noah,  Isaac,  Moses,  Aaron,  Joshua, 
and  Joseph,  and  Samuel,  and  all  the  prophets,  and  all  the 
apostles."  l 

Outside  of  the  Bible,  there  are  in  nature  several  argu- 
ments against  polygamy  which  plainly  stamp  it  as  an 
unnatural  abomination  and  contrary  to  the  will  of  God. 
Some  of  these  are  :  — 

1.  In  the  beginning  God  created  man,  "male  and 
female,"  —  one  man  and  one  woman,  —  an  equal  number 
of  each,  and  substantially  equal  in  numbers  they  have  con- 
tinued unto  this  day.  If  God  had  designed  to  give  the 
plural-wife  system  his  approval,  or  if  he  had  seen  that 
under  the  monogamic  system  mankind  could  not  multiply 
rapidly  enough  to  fulfill  his  purposes  and  promises,  he 
certainly  would  have  begun  the  race  with  more  females 
than  males.  If  some  men  have  plural  wives,  there  must 
then  be  an  equal  number  who  can  have  not  even  one  wife. 
The  Mormons  attempt  to  escape  this  dilemma  by  saying 
that  God  does  not  sanction  the  marriage  of  wicked  men, 
and  that  such  persons  should  never  marry,  while  righteous 
men  should  have  plural  wives.  The  effrontery  of  this 
implication  that  the  crime-stained  polygamists  of  Utah 
are  better  men  than  their  fellows  is  only  equaled  by  their 
collateral  statements  that  women  in  Christian  lands  are 
far  more  debased  than  they  are  in  polygamous  nations. 

If  some  men  may  have  many  wives,  and,  therefore,  many 

1  Bishop  John  P.  Newman,  in  The  Bible  and  Polygamy. 


244  Tim  Mormon  Delusion. 

others  can  have  none,  then  what  becomes  of  that  other 
Mormon  argument  for  polygamy  that  it  is  4i  a  corrector 
of  evils  and  a  promoter  of  purity  "  ? 

Concerning  the  relative  numbers  of  males  and  females 
in  the  United  States  the  Mormons  have  made  the  boldest 
misrepresentations.  Orson  Pratt,  in  a  discourse  in  the 
Mormon  Tabernacle  in  Salt  Lake  City,  said  :  "  Many  will 
tell  us  that  the  number  of  males  and  the  number  of 
females  born  are  just  about  equal.  Supposing  one  should 
admit,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  the  sexes  are  born 
in  equal  numbers,  does  that  prove  that  the  same  equality 
exists  when  they  come  to  a  marriageable  age?  By  no 
means.  If  you  go  to  the  published  statistics  you  will 
find,  almost  without  exception,  that  in  every  state  a 
greater  number  of  males  die  the  first  year  of  their  exist- 
ence than  females.  The  same  holds  good  from  one  year 
to  five  y ears,  and  from  five  years  to  ten,  from  ten  to 
fifteen,  and  from  fifteen  to  twenty.  This  shows  that  the 
number  of  females  is  greatly  in  excess  of  the  males  when 
they  reach  a  marriageable  age.  .  .  .  We  might  go  on 
from  state  to  state,  and  then  to  the  census  taken  by  the 
United  States,  and  a  vast  surplus  would  be  shown  of 
females  over  males  of  a  marriageable  age."  l 

The  facts,  however,  are  directly  contrary  to  the  above 
statements.  Examinations  of  the  United  States  census 
reports  for  1860,  1870,  and  1880,  show  that  there  were  at 
each  of  those  dates  more  males  than  females  in  the 
United  States  ;  and  also  that  of  those  aged  twenty  to 
twenty-nine  inclusive,  there  were  more  males  than  fe- 
males,  as  follows  :  — 

In  1860  there  were  729,085  more  males  than  females  ; 
and  of  those  aged  twenty  to  twenty-nine  years  inclusive, 

1  The  Bible  and  Polygamy,  p.  84. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  24 0 

there  were  96,738  more  males  than  females.  By  the 
United  States  census  of  1870,  after  all  the  terrible  losses 
of  men  during  the  war,  the  males  were  still  in  excess  of 
the  females  by  428,759.  Even  in  Utah  herself  the  males 
were  then  in  excess  of  the  females  by  1,456.  By  the 
census  of  1880,  the  males  exceeded  the  females  by  881,- 
857  ;  and  then  again  in  Utah  there  were  5,115  more  males 
than  females.  Of  those  who  were  twenty  to  twenty-nine 
years  inclusive,  there  were  160,456  more  males  than  fe- 
males ;  and  if  we  omit  the  colored  people,  there  were  then 
170,569  more  white  males  of  that  age  than  white  females  ; 
and  if  we  omit  both  the  colored  and  the  foreign-born,  we 
still  have  (aged  twenty  to  twenty-nine  inclusive),  of 
native  whites,  91,676  more  males  than  females.  Even  in 
Utah  the  males  aged  twenty  to  twenty-nine  inclusive  are 
in  excess  of  the  females  by  1,156.  In  newer  countries 
such  as  the  United  States  there  would  naturally  be  a 
greater  preponderance  of  males. 

From  every  point  of  view  it  remains  true  that  in  the 
beginning  God  made  them  male  and  female,  in  equal 
numbers,  and  that  the  race  continues  to  be  born  in 
about  the  same  proportion  —  an  incontrovertible  argu- 
ment against  the  plural-wife  system. 

2.  The  other  argument  from  nature  is  the  natural 
hatred  of  woma7i's  heart  against  polygamy.  This  hatred 
is  as  natural  to  every  woman  as  her  breath  ;  it  never 
slumbers  while  life  lasts ;  and  it  is  the  most  intense 
hatred  of  which  the  human  heart  is  capable.  Even  those 
women  whose  better  natures  have  been  crushed  by  sin, 
or  those  who  have  grown  up  in  polygamous  surround- 
ings,—  most  of  even  these  poor  creatures  hate  polyg- 
amy. The  thought  or  suggestion  that  her  husband  will 
take   another  wife   fills  everv  true  woman's   heart,   even 


246  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

though  she  be  deluded  by  Mormouism,  and  has  brought 
herself  to  think  that  she  believes  polygamy  to  be  right, 
with  the  keenest  agony  and  the  most  unrelenting  hate. 
Even  the  woman  who  is  a  third  or  a  fifth  wife  is  broken- 
hearted with  grief  and  filled  with  sleepless  hate  if  her 
husband  shall  take  another  wife.  This  opposition,  which 
fires  and  sways  the  soul  of  every  woman  against  this  un- 
natural, cruel,  and  base  iniquity,  can  not  be  harmonized 
with  the  doctrine  that  polygamy  is  ordained  of  God. 
God's  best  earthly  gifts  to  man  and  to  woman  —  Love, 
Marriage,  the  Family,  and  the  Home  —  he  has  not  embit- 
tered with  undying  pain,  jealousy,  and  hate.  Only  sin 
introduces  these. 

3.  The  history  of  the  race  shows  that  God's  primeval 
plan,  in  the  morning  of  time,  best  fosters  the  virtue, 
happiness,  and  prosperity  of  mankind,  namely,  The 
Family  and  The  Home  :  one  husband  and  one  wife, 
and  their  children  around  one  hearthstone.  That  is  the 
natural  nest  of  the  human  race.  Therein  grow  love  and 
blessing  for  all.  Polygamy  enters  this  Eden  and  blights 
it.  In  polygamy  there  can  be  no  perfect  Family,  no  real 
Home.  The  condemnation  of  God,  of  the  Bible,  and  of 
nature  rests  upon  it. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE  BOOK  OP  MORMON,   OR   "THE   GOLDEN   BIBLE." 

MORMONISM  IN  RHYME  AND  CATECHISM. 

THE  Mormons  hold  the  Bible,  the  Book  of  Mormon, 
Doctrines  and  Covenants,  and  the  so-called  "  rev- 
elations "  given  from  time  to  time,  to  be  of  equal  author- 
ity, except  that,  where  they  differ,  the  latest  "revelation" 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  247 

is  held  to  be  the  binding  one.  While  they  generally  pro- 
fess to  believe  the  Bible,  yet  their  leaders  say  and  pub- 
lish many  things  tending  to  undermine  faith  in  the  Bible. 
The  book  called  Doctrines  and  Covenants,  above  referred 
to,  contains  some  lectures  on  Faith,  by  Joseph  Smith, 
and  all  his  published  "  revelations;  "  an  account  of  his 
death  ;  and  one  k'  revelation"  by  Brigham  Young,  direct- 
ing- the  manner  in  which  the  Mormons  should  make  their 
first  journey  across  the  plains  in  1847. 

The  Book  of  Mormon  is  the  so-called  translation  by 
Joseph  Smith  of  his  alleged  golden  plates.  It  claims  to 
be  the  history  of  three  colonies  from  the  Old  World  who 
came  to  the  Western  Continent  in  pre-historic  times  and 
dwelt  here  for  twenty-five  hundred  years.  It  also  claims 
to  give  the  so-called  "  fullness  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ," 
by  which  it  seems  to  mean  a  more  full  account  of  the 
plan  of  salvation  than  is  to  be  found  in  the  Bible.  It 
imitates  the  Bible  in  many  ways,  one  being  that  it  is 
divided  into  books. 

It  narrates  that  twenty  to  thirty  persons  left  Asia  just 
after  the  confusion  of  tongues  at  the  tower  of  Babel, 
sailed  to  North  America,  spread  over  the  whole  land, 
divided,  and  quarreled.  Then  they  fought,  each  with  an 
army  numbering  two  millions,  until  all  were  exter- 
minated except  one.  A  second  colony  of  two  families 
left  Jerusalem  six  hundred  years  before  Christ,  and 
landed  in  South  America,  while  a  third  colony,  also 
from  Jerusalem,  settled  in  Central  America.  These  two 
colonies  soon  populated  the  Entire  Western  World,  and 
often  engaged  in  desolating  wars,  especially  in  384  a.d. 
One  tribe  had  a  prophet  named  Mormon,  who  gathered 
up  their  records  and  engraved  them  upon  the  so-called 
golden  plates,  and  his  son  hid  them  in  the  hill   Cumorah, 


248  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

near  Palmyra,  New  York,  where,  after  fourteen  hundred 
years,  their  existence  and  location  were  revealed  to 
Joseph  Smith,  who  translated  them  into  the  Book  of 
Mormon.  The  reader  will  remember  the  "  peep-stone" 
and  "old  hat"  scene  during  the  alleged  translation,  as 
previously  narrated. 

Some  brief  extracts  from  the  Book  of  Mormon  will 
sufficiently  reveal  its  character,  as  follows  (the  italics 
are  ours)  :  — 

' '  Wherefore  these  plates  are  for  the  more  part  of  the 
ministry  ;  and  the  other  plates  are  for  the  more  part  of 
the  reign  of  the  kings,  and  the  wars,"  etc.  "  For  a 
more  history  part  are  written  upon  mine  other  plates." 
"And  then  the  more  part  of  the  year  did  pass  away." 
"And  yet  did  they  deny  the  more  parts  of  his  gospel." 

The  expressions  "and  it  came  to  pass"  and  "the 
more  part"  occur  seventy-nine  times  in  the  first  ten 
pages,  and  in  another  part  of  the  book  "  it  came  to 
pass  "  is  repeated  thirty-nine  times  in  five  pages.  Mark 
Twain  says  that  this  expression  occurs  so  many  times 
that  if  it  were  taken  out  of  the  book  there  would  be 
nothing  left  to  "come  to  pass." 

The  ludicrous  attempts  to  imitate  the  style  of  the 
Bible  are  illustrated  in  the  following  use  of  the  word 
"thereof"  :  — 

"And  great  and  terrible  was  the  battle  thereof;  yea, 
great  and  terrible  was  the  slaughter  thereof." 

"And  he  fastened  it  upon  the  end  of  a  pole  thereof." 

Its  illiterate  bungling  wrll  appear  from  the  following  : 

"And  seeing  also  the  enormity  of  their  number  .  .  . 
notwithstanding  the  enormity  of  our  numbers  .  .  .  these 
our  dearly  beloved  brethren,  who  have  so  dearly  beloved 
us  .  .  .  among  those  who  they  so  dearly  beloved,  and 
among  those  who  had  .so  dearly  beloved  them." 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  249 

"  Yea,  if  my  clays  could  have  been  in  them  clays." 

"  But,  behold,  I  am  consigned  that  these  are  my  days." 
"And  they  having  been  waxed  strong  in  battle."  "We 
did  arrive  to  the  promised  land."  "  Even  until  they  had 
arriven  to  the  land  of  Middoni."  "  And  were  compelled 
to  hoist  the  title  of  liberty  upon  their  towers,  and  in  their 
cities."  "  He  being  stabbed  by  his  brother  by  a  garb  of 
secrecy.'''  "He  went  forth  among  the  people,  leaving  the 
rent  of  his  garments  in  the  air,  that  all  might  see  the 
writing  which  he   had  wrote  upon  the  rent.'''' 

In  one  part  of  the  book  a  single  scene  is  described 
which  briugs  into  view  Jesus,  Samson,  Peter's  prison, 
and  the  Philippian  jail,  all  these  combined,  and  occurring 
eighty  years  before  Christ  was  born. 

Mr.  Lamb  points  out  another  monstrous  blunder,  as 
follows  :  — 

"  That  is,  in  fifty-five  years,  these  priests  of  Noah,  with 
twenty-four  wives,  have  increased  to  tens  and  hundreds  of 
thousands  !  The  most  rapid  possible  increase  would  not 
have  given  them  more  than  two  hundred  to  three  hundred 
grown  men  able  to  take  up  arms."  1 

Leading  and  most  shameful  features  of  the  Book  of 
Mormon  are  its  treatment  of  Christ :  its  irreverence,  its 
falsehoods  about  him,  and  its  cunning  efforts  to  under- 
mine the  Gospel  records.  It  represents  Christ  as  coming 
to  America  hundreds  of  years  before  he  came  into  the 
world  by  Gospel  accounts,  and  doing  and  saying  here  the 
same  things  which  he  afterwards  did  among  the  scenes 
which  shine  upon  us  from  Palestine.  His  miracles  are 
anticipated,  imitated,  and  exaggerated,  and  his  very 
words  repeated,  and  then  dated  centuries  before  he  came 
to  the  earth,  if  we  believe  the  beautiful  records  in  the 
iThe  Golden  Bible,  by  Rev.  J.  A.  Lamb,  p.  113. 


250 


Tlie  Mormon  Delusion. 


Gospels.  How  such  a  stupid  and  shocking  fraud  could 
deceive  thousands  who  claim  to  be  followers  of  Jesus  is 
one  of  the  many  seemingly  incredible  things  about  the 
whole  history  of  this  sad  imposture. 

The  following  extracts  from  the  words  of  Christ  are 
here  placed  alongside  of  Joseph  Smith's  pretended  trans- 
lation from  the  golden  plates  after  they  had  been  "  hid 
up,"  as  he  said,  hundreds  of  years  before  our  King 
James  Version  of  the  New  Testament  was  in  existence  : 


From  the  New  Testament. 

"  I  .  .  .  know  my  sheep,  and  am 
known  of  mine."  '-There  shall  be 
one  fold,  and  one  shepherd."  "  He 
.  .  .  shall  go  in  and  out,  and  find 
pasture."    John  10:  14,  16,  9. 

"  I  lay  it  down  of  myself."  "  And 
I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth, 
will  draw  all  men  unto  me."  John 
10 :  18  and  12  :  32. 

"  But  lie  that  shall  endure  unto 
the  end,  the  same  shall  be  saved." 
Matthew  24:  13. 

"  Strait  is  the  gate,  and  narrow  is 
the  way,  wrhich  leadeth  unto  life." 
Matthew  7 :  14. 

"  Men  ought  always  to  pray,  and 
not  to  faint."    Luke  18:  1. 

"  Nevertheless  not  my  will,  but 
thine,  be  done."    Luke  22:  42. 

"  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father, 
inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for 
you  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world."    Matthew  25  :  34. 


From  the  Book  of  Mormon. 

"  And  he  numbereth  his  sheep, 
and  they  know  him,  and  there  shall 
be  one  fold;  and  he  shall  feed  his 
sheep,  and  in  him  shall  they  find 
pasture." 

"  He  layeth  down  his  own  life, 
that  he  may  draw  all  men  unto 
him." 

"  He  that  endureth  to  the  end,  the 
same  shall  be  saved." 

"  And  there  are  ye  in  this  straight 
and  narrow  path  which  leads  to 
eternal  life;  yea,  ye  have  entered 
in  by  the  gate." 

"  Ye  must  pray  always,  and  not 
faint." 

"  Nevertheless  not  my  will  be 
done." 

"  Come  unto  me,  ye  blessed,  there 
is  a  place  prepared  for  you  in  the 
mansions  of  my  Father." 


One  writer  in  the  Book  of  Mormon,  who  claims  to  be 
writing  at  a  date  long  before  Christ  came  into  the  world, 
actually  quotes  from  the  Gospels  of  Matthew  and  John, 
and  begins  by  saying  "  we  read,"  thus  :  — 

"  But  we  read  that  in  that  great  and  last  day,  there  are 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  251 

some  who  shall  be  cast  out ;  yea,  who  shall  be  cast  off 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord  ;  yea,  who  shall  be  con- 
signed to  a  state  of  endless  misery,  fulfilling  the  words 
which  say  they  that  have  done  good  shall  have  everlasting 
life,  and  they  that  have  done  evil  shall  have  everlasting 
damnation.      And  thus  it  is,  Amen." 

Mr.  Lamb  well  says  :  — 

"  There  are  sentences  by  the  thousand,  and  whole 
chapters,  whose  very  presence  in  the  Book  of  Mormon, 
in  the  form  in  which  they  are  found,  settles  the  question 
of  the  modern  origin  of  the  book  beyond  the  possibility 
of  dispute.  They  are  every  one  of  them,  with  scarcely 
an  exception,  made  verbatim  from  our  King  James 
Version."  1 

That  the  Mormons  have  no  real  regard  for  the  Bible  is 
well  known  to  all  who  have  had  experience  with  them 
sufficient  to  see  through  their  shallow  pretences  ;  but  the 
following  quotation  from  the  Book  of  Mormon  fastens 
this  charge  beyond  dispute  :  — 

"And  my  words  shall  hiss  forth  unto  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  for  a  standard  unto  my  people,  which  are  of  the 
house  of  Israel.  And  because  my  words  shall  hiss  forth, 
many  of  the  Gentiles  shall  say,  a  bible,  a  bible,  we  have 
got  a  bible,  and  there  can  not  be  any  more  bible.  .But 
thus  saith  the  Lord  God  :  O  fools,  they  shall  have  a 
bible  ;  and  it  shall  proceed  forth  from  the  Jews,  mine 
ancient  covenant  people.  And  what  thank  they  the 
Jews  for  the  Bible  which  they  receive  from  them  ?  .  .  . 
Thou  fool,  that  shall  say  a  bible,  we  have  got  a  bible, 
and  we  need  no  more  bible." 

"Wherefore,  because  that  ye  have  a  bible,  ye  need  not 
suppose  that  it  contains  all  my  words  ;  neither  ye  suppose 
that  I  lrave  not  caused  more  to  be  written." 
*The  Golden  Bible,  p.  239. 


252  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Among  the  so-called  "  revelations"  of  Joseph  Smith  to 
be  found  in  the  Mormon  book,  Doctrines  and  Covenants, 
is  the  following  so-called  "  prophecy,"  which  is  claimed 
to  have  been  given  in  1832  :  — 

"  1.  Verily,  thus  saith  the  Lord,  concerning  the  wars 
that  will  shortly  come  to  pass,  beginning  at  the  rebellion 
of  South  Carolina,  which  will  eventually  terminate  in  the 
death  and  misery  of  many  souls. 

"2.  The  days  will  come  that  war  will  be  poured  out 
upon  all  nations,  beginning  at  that  place. 

"  3.  For,  behold,  the  Southern  States  will  be  divided 
against  the  Northern  States,  and  the  Southern  States  will 
call  on  even  the  nation  of  Great  Britain,  as  it  is  called." 

This  has  been  proclaimed  throughout  all  the  world  by 
the  Mormons  as  a  remarkable  prophecy  and  which  has 
been  "  completely  fulfilled."  Let  us  examine  it  more 
closely.  Doctrines  and  Covenants,  section  87,  gives  the 
prophecy  in  full,  and  says:  '-Given  by  Joseph  Smith, 
the  Seer,  December  25,  1832."  The  facts  are  that  on 
November  19,  1832,  South  Carolina  adopted  the  famous 
''nullification  ordinance,"  which  declared  that  the  tariff 
laws  of  the  United  States  were  not  binding  upon  her 
citizens,  and  prohibited  the  payment  of  such  duties,  and 
also  declared  that,  if  the  general  government  should  seek 
to  enforce  the  tariff  law,  the  people  of  South  Carolina 
would  "hold  themselves  free  from  all  further  obligation 
to  maintain  or  preserve  their  political  connection  with  the 
people  of  the  other  states."  President  Andrew  Jackson 
at  once  ordered  General  Scott  to  take  possession  of  the 
forts  of  Charleston.  There  was  then  great  excitement, 
and  during  November  and  December  of  that  year  scores 
of  Whig  newspapers  and  thousands  of  citizens  in  the 
North  were  predicting  war  with  South  Carolina,  in  which 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  253 

all  the  Southern  States  would  finally  unite  against  the 
North.  The  nullificationists  were  claiming,  further,  that, 
in  case  of  war  on  the  tariff  issue,  free-trade  England 
would  be  called  upon  by  the  South  for  aid.  General 
Jackson  said,  after  the  flurry  was  over:  "This  time  it 
is  the  tariff ;  next  time  it  will  be  the  slavery  question." 

There  were  at  that  time  hundreds  of  just  such  pre- 
dictions made,  but  others  did  not  have  the  mendacity 
to  claim  that  they  were  "  revelations    from    the    Lord." 

But  there  are  several  things  in  Joseph's  rash 
"  prophecy "  that  did  not  come  to  pass  as  predicted. 
In  the  second  paragraph  above  it  is  stated  that  "  war 
will  be  poured  out  upon  all  nations,  beginning  at  that 
place"  (that  is,  South  Carolina).  But  it  signally  failed 
to  come  true  either  in  1832  or  during  our  late  war  of 
the  Rebellion  that  war  was  poured  "  out  upon  all 
nations."  As  for  its  beginning  in  South  Carolina, 
everybody  expected  if  there  should  be  war  in  1832  that 
it  must  begin  there,  as  it  was  that  state  that  was  in 
rebellion  ;  and  it  required  no  prophet  to  predict  that,  if 
war  should  break  out  concerning  slavery ,  it  would  begin 
in  South  Carolina. 

Further  on  in  this  same  prophecy,  paragraph  6   says : 

"6.  And  thus  with  the  sword,  and  by  bloodshed,  the 
inhabitants  of  the  earth  shall  mourn  ;  and  with  famine  and 
plague  and  earthquakes,  and  the  thunder  of  heaven,  and 
the  fierce  and  vivid  lightning  also  shall  the  inhabitants 
of  the  earth  be  made  to  feel  the  wrath  and  indignation 
and  chastening  hand  of  Almighty  God,  until  the  con- 
summation decreed  hath  made  a  full  end  of  all  nations." 

But  neither  accompanying  the  speck  of  war  in  1832, 
nor  in  the  late  Rebellion,  was  there  either  famine,  or 
plagues,   or  earthquakes;    neither  did   "the  inhabitants 


254  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

of  the  earth  mourn";  neither  was  there  made  "a  full 
end  of  all  nations  "  !  Several  nations  in  the  world  have 
been  quite  lively  since  this  prophecy  made  "  a  full  end  " 
of  them  many  years  ago. 

But  the  seventh  paragraph  of  this  'k  prophecy,"  so 
called,  brings  out  the  animus  of  the  whole,  thus  :  — 

"  7.  That  the  cry  of  the  Saints  and  the  blood  of  the 
Saints  shall  cease  to  come  up  into  the  ears  of  the  Lord 
of  Sabaoth,  from  the  earth,  to  be  avenged  of  their 
enemies." 

All  this  terrible  devastation  of  "  all  the  nations"  was 
to  take  place  merely  to  avenge  the  Mormons  of  their 
Gentile  enemies  !  The  simple  facts  are  that  all  the  parts 
of  this  pretended  prophecy  that  were  fulfilled  had  either 
already  occurred  when  it  was  written  or  were  matters  of 
general  expectation ;  and  the  parts  which  were  real 
predictions  originating  with  Joseph  Smith  have,  every 
one  of  them,  conspicuously  failed  to  come  to  pass  as 
predicted. 

Some  years  after  the  Mormons  settled  in  Utah  they 
printed  a  catechism  for  children,  but  it  was  so  absurd 
and  obscene  that  it  was  found  to  react  against  them  and 
was  withdrawn  from  sale  and  destroyed,  and  this  was 
so  thoroughly  done  that  no  copy  can  now  be  found  by 
Gentiles.  A  new  catechism  has  since  been  in  use  among 
them,  from  which  the  following  extracts  are  taken  :  — 

Q.     Has  God  given  many  revelations  to  men? 

A.     Yes,  a  great  many. 

Q.     Where  have  we  an  account  of  his  doing  so? 

A.  In  the  Bible,  the  Book  of  Mormon,  the  Book  of  Doctrines 
and  Covenants,  and  other  publications  of  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints. 

Q.     Is  any  account  given,  in  any  other  publication  of  the 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  255 

Latter  Day  Saints,  of  God  revealing  Himself  to  any  other 
person  in  our  day? 

A.  Yes.  The  Lord  revealed  Himself  and  His  Son  Jesus 
Christ  to  Joseph  Smith. 

Q.     Can  you  mention  any  other  revelation  given  in  our  day? 

A.  Yes.  The  revelation  of  John  the  Baptist  to  Joseph 
Smith  and  Oliver  Cowdery. 

Q.  Are  these  all  the  revelations  given  in  our  day,  and 
recorded  in  the  publications  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints? 

A.  No.  Numerous  revelations  have  been  given  in  these 
days,  many  of  which  are  published  in  the  Book  of  Doctrines 
and  Covenants :  in  one  it  is  said  that  God  opened  the  heavens 
to  Joseph  Smith  and  Sidney  Rigdon. 

Q.     Are  there  more  Gods  than  one  ? 

A.     Yes,  many. 

Q.    How,  then,  can  God  be  like  man? 

A.  Man  has  a  spirit,  though  clothed  with  a  body,  and  God 
is  similarly  constituted. 

Q.    Has  God  a  body,  then? 

A.    Yes,  like  unto  a  man's  body  in  figure. 

Q.  How  can  God  be  the  Father  of  all  men.  when  every  man 
has  a  natural  father  upon  the  earth  ? 

A.     God  is  the  Father  of  the  spirits  of  all  men. 

Q.  Did  the  spirits  of  all  men  exist,  then,  before  they  took 
bodies  upon  the  earth? 

A.    Yes,  they  existed  in  the  spirit  world. 

Q.  For  what  purpose  are  the  spirits  of  men  sent  to  take 
bodies  upon  the  earth? 

A.  That  they  may  be  educated,  developed,  and  perfected, 
that  they  may  enjoy  a  fullness  of  knowledge,  power,  and 
glory  forever,  and  thus  increase  the  dominion  and  glory  of 
God. 

Q.  How  many  states  of  existence  do  intelligent  beings,  who 
become  Gods,  experience? 

A.     Three  grand  states. 

Q.     What  is  the  first  state  of  existence  ? 

A.  Intelligences  are  begotten  spirits  —  sons  and  daughters 
to  God,  in  the  spirit  world,  the  spirits  being  in  form  of  man's 
natural  body. 


256  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Q.     What  is  the  second  state  of  existence? 

A.  The  spirits  are  sent  to  dwell  upon  some  world,  and  take 
upon  themselves  mortal  bodies,  etc. 

Q.     What  is  the  third  state  of  existence? 

A.  After  having  laid  down  their  mortal  bodies,  through 
corruption  and  death,  the  spirits  receive  bodies  not  subject  to 
death,  etc. 

Q.  Have  spirits,  when  in  the  spirit  world,  any  understand- 
ing of  the  experience  through  which  they  must  pass  before 
their  arrival  at  perfection  ? 

A.    Yes ;  they  have  a  general  idea  of  it. 

Q.  Did  the  spirits  who  were  to  take  bodies  on  this  earth 
rejoice  or  grieve  at  the  prospect  before  them? 

A.  They  rejoiced,  and  sang  songs  together,  and  shouted 
aloud  for  joy. 

Q.  When  the  spirits  pertaining  to  this  earth  were  begotten, 
what  event  took  place  ? 

A.  A  grand  council,  or  series  of  councils,  was  held  in 
heaven,  when  it  was  determined  that  this  earth  should  be 
organized  as  a  dwelling-place  for  the  spirits  while  they  took 
upon  themselves  bodies,  etc. 

Q.  Is  it  proper  for  us  to  consider  the  transgression  of 
Adam  and  Eve  as  a  grievous  calamity,  etc.  ? 

A.  No.  But  we  ought  to  consider  the  Fall  of  our  first 
parents  as  one  of  the  great  steps  to  eternal  exaltation  and 
happiness,  etc. 

Q.  But  as  baptism  is  an  outward  ordinance,  can  not  men  be 
saved  without  it  if  they  believe  and  repent  ? 

A.  No  person  who  has  arrived  at  years  of  accountability, 
and  has  heard  the  Gospel,  can  be  saved  without  baptism. 

Q.     Where  will  the  New  Jerusalem  be  commenced? 

A.  In  Jackson  County,  Missouri,  where  a  temple,  the  site 
of  which  was  dedicated  in  1831,  will  be  eventually  built. 

Q.     Why  will  so  many  temples  be  erected? 

A.  Because  in  them  the  Saints  will  be  baptized  for  those 
persons  who  have  died  without  a  knowledge  of  the  Gospel, 
and  will  attend  to  all  the  ordinances  of  salvation  and  exalta- 
tion for  themselves  and  their  dead  friends. 


Tlie  Mormon  Delusion.  257 

Some  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Mormons  are  brought  out 
very  clearly  in  their  hymns.  A  favorite  hymn  with  them 
is  that  which  teaches  their  doctrine  of  the  preexistence  of 
souls.     Some  of  the  verses  are  as  follows  :  — • 

O  my  Father,  thou  that  dwellest 

In  the  high  and  glorious  place ! 
When  shall  I  regain  Thy  presence, 

And  again  behold  Thy  face '? 
In  Thy  holy  habitation, 

Did  my  spirit  once  reside  ? 
In  my  first  primeval  childhood, 

Was  I  nurtured  near  Thy  side? 

For  a  wise  and  glorious  purpose 

Thou  hast  placed  me  here  on  earth, 
And  withheld  the  recollection 

Of  my  former  friends  and  birth : 
Yet  ofttimes  a  secret  something 

Whispered,  You  're  a  stranger  here; 
And  I  felt  that  I  had  wandered 

From  a  more  exalted  sphere. 

Their  hymn-book  teaches  baptism  for  the  dead  in  the 
following  verses :  — 

Among  the  things  which  have  been  sealed, 

And  from  the  earth  kept  hid, 
The  Lord  has  to  His  Saints  revealed, 

As  anciently  He  did. 

And  through  the  Priesthood,  now  restored, 

Has  e'en  prepared  the  way 
Through  which  the  dead  may  hear  his  word 

And  all  its  truths  obey. 

As  Christ  to  spirits  went  to  preach 

Who  were  in  prison  laid, 
So  many  Saints  have  gone  to  teach 

The  Gospel  to  the  dead. 


258  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

And  we  for  them  can  be  baptized, 

Yes,  for  our  friends  most  dear, 
That  they  can  with  the  just  be  raised, 

When  Gabriel's  trump  they  hear. 

Healing  the  sick  by  the  laying  on  of  hands  by  the 
elders  is  a  Mormon  doctrine,  and  it  is  enforced  by  the 
leaders  among  the  poorer  classes  with  shocking  cruelty. 
Physicians  are  denied,  and  much  needless  suffering  en- 
sues.    This  doctrine  they  versify  thus  :  — 

The  sick,  on  whom  the  oil  is  poured 

And  hands  in  meekness  laid, 
Are  by  the  power  of  God  restored, 

Through  faith,  as  Jesus  said. 

Heber  C.  Kimball  said  in  a  sermon  in  the  tabernacle 
in  Salt  Lake  City  :  "  Brigham  Young  is  my  God,  and  he 
is  your  God,  and  the  only  God  you  will  ever  see  if  you 
do  not  obey  him.  Joseph  Smith  was  God  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  earth  when  he  was  among  us,  and  Brigham 
is  God  now."  l 

"  The  Mormon  theory  of  the  Godhead  is  that  God  the 
Father  has  a  body  like  our  own  ;  that  he  is  a  polygamist, 
having  a  great  number  of  wives  ;  that  Mary,  the  mother 
of  Jesus,  was  one  of  these,  and  that  he  sent  her  to  earth 
and  loaned  her  to  Joseph  for  a  time  and  for  a  purpose  ; 
which  purpose  being  fulfilled,  he  took  her  back  to  him- 
self, and  that  she  is  now  one  of  his  wives  again  in  the 
spirit  world."  2 

The  Mormon  doctrinal  expounder,  Orson  Pratt,  said  :  — 

"The  Virgin  Mary  must  have  been  for  the  time  being 
the  lawful  wife  of  God  the  Father.  We  use  the  term 
lawful  wife,  because  it  would  be  blasphemous  in  the  high- 

1  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,  p.  294.  2The  Mormon  Problem,  p.  130. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  259 

est  degree  to  say  that  he  overshadowed  her,  or  begat  a 
child  of  her  unlawfully.  ...  It  was  also  lawful  in  him, 
after  having  thus  dealt  with  Mary,  to  give  her  to  Joseph, 
her  espoused  husband.  Whether  God  the  Father  gave 
Mary  to  Joseph  for  time  only,  or  for  time  and  eternity, 
we  are  not  informed.  Inasmuch  as  God  was  the  first 
husband  to  her,  it  may  be  that  he  only  gave  her  to  be  the 
wife  of  Joseph  while  in  this  mortal  state,  and  that  he 
intended  after  the  resurrection  to  again  take  her  as  one 
of  his  own  wives  to  raise  up  immortal  spirits  in  eternity." 
Even  into  the  disgusting  subject  of  polygamy  Mormon 
rhymsters  have  dipped  their  filthy  pens,  thus  :  — 

Through  him  who  holds  the  sealing  power, 

Ye  faithful  ones,  who  heed 
Celestial  laws,  take  many  wives, 

And  rear  a  righteous  seed. 

Though  fools  revile,  I  '11  honor  you, 

As  Abraham,  my  friend; 
You  shall  be  Gods,  and  shalt  be  blest 

With  lives  that  never  end. 

The  time  the  prophet  saw  is  on  the  wing, 
When  seven  women  to  one  man  shall  cling. 
Not  for  the  lack  of  clothing  or  of  bread, 
But  for  a  husband  —  a  man  —  a  head ! 

If  you  perchance  among  the  worthies  stand, 
And  seven  women  claim  your  saving  hand, 
Do  not  reject  the  six  and  save  the  one, 
And  boast  of  magnanimity  when  done. 

Then,  O,  let  us  say, 

God  bless  the  wife  that  strives 
And  aids  her  husband  all  she  can 

To  obtain  a  dozen  wives. 


260  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

The  extent  to  which  the  doctrine  of  polygamy  is 
carried  will  be  understood  by  the  following  exposition 
of  it  by  Orson  Pratt  to  the  Saints.  In  a  sermon,  speak- 
ing of  the  prospects  of  a  Mormon  who  should  appear  at 
the  judgment  with  but  one  wife,  Mr.  Pratt  said  :  — 

"If  during  the  life  of  that  man  he  had  gone  out  into 
all  the  earth  and  approached  every  woman  he  could 
possibly  find  and  solicited  her  hand  in  plural  marriage, 
and  all  had  refused  ;  if  then  he  had  taken  his  wife  with 
him,  and  she  had  joined  her  labors  with  his  and  they  had 
both  done  their  very  utmost  to  persuade  some  woman  to 
come  to  the  rescue,  and  all  had  refused,  then  that  couple 
might  be  saved,  '  so  as  by  fire.'  " 

A  leading  doctrine  of  the  Mormons  is  that  concerning 
tithes.  It  is  the  foundation  of  their  very  successful 
financial  system,  and  a  great  source  of  power  to  the 
church  and  of  enrichment  to  its  leaders.  In  the  hands 
of  the  priesthood  it  is  an  instrument  of  oppression. 

Ten  per  cent,  of  all  gross  income  or  time,  wages, 
products,  grain,  live-stock,  butter  and  eggs,  fruit,  day- 
labor  in  shop,  or  field,  or  hovel,  or  attic,  etc.,  is  required 
to  be  paid  to  the  church  each  year,  until  its  income  has 
risen  to  over  $500,000  annually  ;  and  then  the  poverty- 
stricken,  as  well  as  wealthy,  are  vigorously  exhorted  to 
give  extra  to  build  temples,  and  to  carry  on  the  lobby  at 
Washington,  and  to  pay  the  attorneys  of  the  church,  and 
to  muzzle  and  bribe  newspapers  whose  columns  are  for 
sale.  The  officers  of  the  church  use  up  forty-Jive  per 
cent,  of  this  vast  annual  income  in  collecting  and  dis- 
bursing it,  so  that  only  a  little  over  half  of  it  is  available 
for  church  purposes. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  261 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

MORMON    MENDACITY.  UTAH    MORALS    OF    TO-DAY. 

A  FACT  to  be  kept  constantly  in  mind  in  all  matters 
about  Utah  is  that  the  Mormons  are  utterly  un- 
truthful when  the  interests  of  Mormonism  are  involved. 
The  country  and  Congress  may  as  well  recognize  this  fact 
and,  after  sixty  years  of  experience  of  it,  act  accordingly. 
What  is  the  evidence  ?     Here  are  a  few  points  :  — 

Readers  of  the  foregoing  pages  will  recall  the  fact 
that  although  Joseph  Smith  wrote  and  secretly  circu- 
lated his  so-called  "  revelation"  commanding  his  follow- 
ers to  practice  polygamy,  yet  he  and  his  brother  Hyrum, 
seven  months  afterwards,  published  a  card  denying  that 
polygamy  was  a  doctrine  or  practice  among  the  Mormons  ; 
that  sixteen  leading  Mormon  women,  already  in  polyg- 
amy, published  a  similar  denial ;  that  two  Mormon 
missionaries  in  France  publicly  denied  that  any  such 
doctrine  or  practice  existed  among  them,  while  both 
these  meu  then  had  polygamous  wives  in  Utah ;  that 
Mrs.  Stenhouse  says  that  every  one  who  knows  them 
would  not  think  of  believing  anything  a  Mormon  elder 
might  say  ;  that  they  have  always  denied  the  well-known 
existence  among  them  of  a  "  Danite  Band;"  and  that 
Brigham  Young  and  his  aiders  during  many  years 
falsified  about  the  action  of  the  United  States  govern- 
ment in  relation  to  the  enlistment  of  Mormon  troops 
for  the  Mexican  War.  It  will  also  be  recalled  that  their 
whole  missionary  system  is  carried  on  by  deceptions 
and  the  most  unblushing  falsehoods. 

Further  facts  are  these  :    Lying  is  publicly  taught   by 


262  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Mormon  leaders.  Orson  Hyde,  a  high  officer  of  the 
church,  said  in  a  sermon:  '*  Suppose  the  officers  of  the 
law  had  a  warrant  to  arrest  Brigham  Young  or  some  of 
the  authorities,  and  they  came  to  your  house  for  safety. 
If  you  knew  where  they  were,  would  it  not  be  better  to 
tell  lies  and  put  the  officers  off  their  guard,  than  to  tell 
the  truth  and  have  the  brethren  arrested  ?  " 

In  1874  George  Q.  Cannon  said  in  his  report  to 
Congress,  on  his  contested  election  :  "  I  deny  that  I  am 
living  and  cohabiting  with  any  wives  in  violation  of  the 
law  of  Congress  of  1862  to  prohibit  polygamy."  It  was 
notorious  at  that  time  in  Utah  that  Mr.  Cannon  then  had 
four  wives  with  whom  he  cohabited.  Later,  when  this 
same  Cannon  was  indicted  for  polygamy  by  the  court  in 
Utah,  he  fled ;  and  when  caught  by  the  officers,  repeat- 
edly denied  that  his  name  was  Cannon,  and  is  reported 
to  have  offered  one  thousand  dollars  as  a  bribe  to  an 
officer  to  let  him  go. 

Brigham  Young  swore  before  the  United  States  court 
in  Salt  Lake  City  that  he  had  but  one  wife.  The  Mor- 
mons explain  that  he  meant  that  according  to  civil  law 
he  had  but  one  wife.  His  previous  claim  to  having 
many  wives,  his  perjury  in  court,  and  the  explanation  of 
his  friends,  all  illustrate  the  utter  untruthfulness  of  the 
whole  brood  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  interests  of 
their  church. 

The  rules  of  the  Mormon  Church  say,  respecting  mar- 
riage ceremonies  :  — 

"  The  usual  form  of  ceremony  is  performed  between 
the  husband  and  the  bride.  The  scribe  then  enters  on 
the  general  record  the  date  and  place  of  marriage, 
together  with  names  of  witnesses. 

"  Section    4.      And  be    it    further  ordained  that  said 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  263 

church  shall  keep  in  every  organized  branch  or  stake  a 
registry  of  marriages,  free  for  inspection  of  all  mem- 
bers." 

Orson  Pratt  also  published  that  all  Mormon  marriages 
were  carefully  recorded.  Afterwards  this  same  Pratt 
and  Daniel  H.  Wells  and  John  Taylor,  the  late  president, 
all  testified  under  oath  before  the  United  States  court 
that  they  did  not  know  that  any  such  records  were  kept. 
This  was  done  to  prevent  the  court  from  getting  posses- 
sion of  the  records  of  polygamous  marriages.  As  if 
the  Mormon  Church  had  kept  no  marriage  records  for 
sixty  years  !  and  as  if  President  Taylor  could  not  have 
laid  his  hand  upon  them  at  any  time  ! 

"One  of  the  evils  of  Mormonism  is  untruthfulness 
and,  when  necessary,  false  swearing.  At  the  last  session 
of  the  Third  District  Court  in  Salt  Lake  City,  I  heard 
more  perjury  to  shield  polygamists,  in  one  day,  than  I 
ever  heard  during  all  the  time  I  lived  in  Michigan."  1 

"  If  the  witness  is  placed  on  the  stand  and  questioned 
as  to  facts  of  recent  occurrence,  his  mind  is  a  blank. 
Mothers  have  frequently  testified  that  they  did  not  know 
their  daughters  were  married,  and  when  asked  if  the  fact 
of  the  daughter  having  children  did  not  at  least  excite 
some  interest  as  to  the  fact  of  marriage,  the  answer 
would  be,  '  It  was  none  of  my  business,'  or,  '  My 
daughter  is  old  enough  to  take  care  of  herself.'  Mem- 
bers of  the  priesthood  have  denied  facts  while  on  the 
stand  which  were  notoriously  known  to  be  true."  2 

"The  marriage  ceremony  is  performed  in  secret,  and 
the  most  terrible  oaths  are  taken  never  to  reveal  what 
transpires.     To  these   oaths  are  attached  the  most  hor- 

1  H'on.  P.  T.  Van  Zile,  ex -United  States  Attorney  for  Utah. 

2  Report  of  A.  L.  Thomas,  Governor  of  Utah,  1889. 


264  The  Mormon  Deo usion. 

rible  penalties,  some  of  which  are  that  the  participants 
will  have  their  tongues  torn  out  by  the  roots,  their  throats 
cut  from  ear  to  ear,  their  bodies  sawn  asunder,  their 
knee-joints  broken,  and  the  like,  should  they  ever  reveal 
what  they  see  or  hear  in  the  Endowment  House.  Think 
of  putting  a  witness  on  the  stand  to  testify,  who  feels 
himself  bound  by  these  oaths  !  And  these  penalties  are 
not  meaningless,  as  many  a  poor  victim  would  testify  if 
his  voice  could  be  heard.  I  mention  these  facts  that  you 
may  understand  some  of  the  difficulties  we  have  to  meet 
when  we  undertake  to  enforce  a  law  of  Congress  forbid- 
ding polygamy  in  the  territories."  1 

By  the  Edmunds-Tucker  law  of  1887,  citizens  of  Utah 
were  required,  before  registering  as  voters,  to  take  an 
oath  not  only  that  they  were  not  polygamists,  but  also 
that  they  would  obey  the  laws  of  Congress  respecting 
polygamy,  and  would  not  aid  or  counsel  others  to  commit 
this  crime.  Before  the  day  for  registration,  the  Mormon 
party  issued  a  circular  to  their  people  in  which  they 
said  :  — 

"  As  to  male  voters  of  the  People's  party  (Mormons), 
there  is  no  provision  in  the  law  which  need  necessarily 
reduce  their  numbers.  .  .  .  The  questions  that  intending 
voters  need  therefore  ask  themselves  are  these  :  '  Are  we 
guilty  of  the  crimes  in  said  act?'  or,  'Have  we  the 
present  intention  of  committing,  or  aiding  any  person  to 
commit,  them  ? '  Male  persons  who  can  answer  these 
questions  in  the  negative  can  qualify  under  existing 
laws  as  voters  and  office-holders." 

Thus  the  requirement  of  the  law  of  a  promise  to  obey 
was  turned  into  a  mere  worthless  negative  —  "I  have  no 
present  intention  "  to  disobey.     B37  this  device  the  leaders 

1  Hon.  P.  T.  Van  Zile,  ex-United  States  Attorney  for  Utah. 


TJw  Mormon  Delusion.  265 

taught  their  foolish  followers  to  disobey  the  laws,  deceive, 
and  commit  perjury. 

The  Mormons  have  become  very  numerous  in  Idaho 
Territory.  Out  of  a  total  population  (in  1890)  of  125,000, 
about  18,000  are  Mormons  ;  aud  of  these  about  5,000 
are  polvgamists. 

Idaho  laws  make  it  unlawful  for  a  Mormon  to  vote,  on 
the  ground  that  all  Mormons  give  higher  allegiance  to 
their  priesthood  than  to  the  state.  A  Mormon  has  to 
take  an  oath,  in  order  to  register,  that  he  does  not  belong 
to  any  organization  which  teaches  violation  of  the  laws, 
or  which  violates  the  laws,  or  any  of  them,  as  a  religious 
duty.  First  the  Mormons  undertook  to  register,  after 
swearing  falsely  that  they  belonged  to  no  such  organ- 
ization. The  judge  stopped  this  by  committing  them 
to  prison  for  perjury.  They  next  sought  to  evade  the 
law  by  pretending  to  secede  from  the  church  just  before 
the  election. 

On  January  21,  1889,  Mr.  B.  W.  Brown,  a  Mormon, 
was  before  the  court  in  Provo,  Utah,  and  was  under 
examination  touching  his  qualifications  as  a  juror,  when 
he  testified  he  did  not  believe  it  right  for  a  man  to  have 
living  and  undivorced  more  than  one  wife,  and  stated 
that  he  did  not  believe  polygamy  or  unlawful  cohabitation 
right,  whether  there  was  a  law  against  it  or  not.  He  was 
afterwards  taken  to  task  by  the  Mormons  for  denying  his 
belief  that  polygamy  was  right,  and  he  explained  to  them 
that  he  had  said  to  the  court  that  he  did  not  believe  polyg- 
amy was  right,  and  that  he  was  justified  in  so  testifying 
because  he  knew  it  was  right.  He  was  then  arrested 
for  perjury,  and  upon  his  trial  two  Mormons  testified  that 
they  had  asked  Brown  why  he  had  denied  that  he  believed 
in  polygamy.     He  replied  on  both  occasions  that  he  had 


266  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

so  told  the  court  because  it  was  past  belief  with  him, 
for  he  knew  polygamy  was  right.  He  was  convicted  for 
this  perjury  and  seut  to  the  penitentiary. 

One  of  the  saddest  results  of  the  mendacity  which  the 
Mormons  are  taught  to  practice  in  the  interests  of  their 
system  is  the  readiness  with  which  husbands  will  falsify 
to  their  own  wives.  These  pages  have  shown  that  in 
polygamous  matters  the  word  of  the  husband  to  the  wife 
is  utterly  worthless.  It  will  readily  be  seen  how  entirely 
this  would  break  down  all  confidence  or  confidential 
relations  between  husband  and  wife. 

"  The  Mormons  are  double-faced.  They  never  make  a 
statement  regarding  their  church  or  political  affairs  that 
has  not  a  double  meaning,  one  for  Mormons,  one  for  out- 
siders. In  their  fight  against  the  laws  of  the  country 
the}7  have  reduced  perjury  to  an  exact  science  and  taught 
it  to  their  children  with  infinitely  more  perseverance  than 
they  have  the  multiplication  table."  l 

The  eloquent  ex-United  States  Attorney,  W.  H.  Dick- 
son, of  Salt  Lake  City,  whom  the  Mormons  attempted 
to  assassinate,  says:  "There  is  being  reared  up  here 
a  community  of  perjurers.  That  is  a  strong  term  to 
use,  but  I  use  it  advisedly  ;  I  say  just  what  I  mean. 
It  is  almost  a  daily  occurrence,  when  the  courts  are  in 
session,  to  witness  the  truth  of  this  statement."  He 
then  goes  on  to  say  that  he  has  seen  a  woman  under 
oath  admit  that  her  daughter  was  married  and  lived  in 
her  household,  and  had  borne  children,  but  that  she  did 
not  know  who  her  daughter's  husband  was  ;  and  another 
woman  testified  that,  although  she  had  been  married  over 
two  years,  she  did  not  know  whether  she  had  ever  been 
a  wife   to   her  husband.      Quite  recently   a  polygamous 

iThe  Salt  Lake  Tribune. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  267 

wife,  belonging  to  one  of  the  prominent  families  in  Salt 
Lake  City,  in  order  to  sbield  her  husband  from  the  charge 
of  polygamy,  testified,  under  oath,  that  she  had  lived 
with  her  husband  but  had  never  been  married  to  him  ; 
and  thus,  by  her  husband's  command,  perjured  and 
debased,  she  went  to  California,  and  soon  died,  broken- 
hearted. He  then  adds:  "The  crime  of  polygamy  is 
the  prolific  mother  of  crime,  and  those  in  authority  in 
the  church  encourage  this  hypocrisy  and  wicked  perjury." 

Dr.  W.  Wyl,  who  came  from  Germany  and  made  a 
most  thorough  investigation  of  Mormon  history,  was  so 
impressed  with  the  veins  of  falsity  which  have  ever  been 
the  life-blood  of  Mormonism  that  he  writes  :  — 

"If  Mormon  history  in  general,  as  represented  by 
Mormon  sermons,  books,  and  newspapers,  has  been  one 
continual  chain  of  misrepresentation  from  1830  to  this 
day,  the  history  of  polygamy  has  been  a  solid  little  group 
of  lies  apart,  like  a  cluster  of  islands  in  an  ocean  of 
falsehood."  1 

Surely  Brigham  Young  was  correct  when  he  publicly 
declared  in  a  sermon  in  the  tabernacle  in  Salt  Lake 
City:  — 

"  I  have  many  a  time  in  this  stand  dared  the  world  to 
produce  as  mean  devils  as  we  can  ;  we  can  beat  them  at 
anything.  We  have  the  greatest  and  smoothest  liars 
in  the  world,  the  cunningest  and  most  adroit  thieves,  and 
any  other  shade  of  character  you  can  mention.  We  can 
pick  out  elders  in  Israel  right  here  who  can  beat  the  world 
at  gambling,  who  can  handle  the  cards,  cut  and  shuffle 
them  with  the  smoothest  rogue  on  the  face  of  God's  foot- 
stool. I  can  produce  elders  here  who  can  shave  their 
smartest  shavers  and  take  their  money  from  them.  We 
can  beat  the  world  at  any  game." 

1  Mormon  Portraits,  p.  86. 


268  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

That  the  reader  may  have  a  fair  illustration  of  the 
frightful  perjury  daily  committed  by  the  Mormons  in 
the  United  States  courts  in  Salt  Lake  City,  and  see 
something  of  the  difficulties  which  surround  the  convic- 
tion of  Mormon  violators  of  the  law  from  the  reluctance 
with  which  Mormons  yield  up  their  testimony,  and  the 
general  unreliability  of  Mormon  evidence,  we  copy  below 
from  the  reports  in  the  daily  papers  the  proceedings  in 
one  case  in  December,  1888  :  l 

John  Groves  appeared  before  Commissioner  Norrell  yester- 
day afternoon  for  examination  on  the  charge  of  unlawful 
cohabitation.  The  complaint  charged  the  defendant  with 
having  lived  and  cohabited  with  Mrs.  Groves  and  Miss 
Stuart  between  November  27,  1885,  and  November  27,  1888. 
To  this  Groves  entered  a  plea  of  not  guilty,  and  stated  that 
he  would  waive  examination.  Mr.  Clark,  who  conducted  the 
prosecution,  insisted  upon  going  on  with  it,  as  he  thought 
that  something  of  a  more  serious  nature  than  the  ott'ence 
charged  might  be  developed. 

Mary  Ann  Williams,  the  alleged  plural  wife,  was  called,  and 
testified :  I  am  twenty-six  years  old  and  reside  on  the  bench  in 
this  city.  My  maiden  name  was  Stuart;  was  married  to  Noah 
Williams  some  five  years  ago  and  have  three  children  by  him, 
but  we  have  not  lived  together  for  some  time ;  we  have  not 
been  divorced;  my  youngest  child  is  about  nine  months  old; 
I  support  myself  by  doing  such  work  as  I  can  get,  such  as 
sewing,  and  have  received  assistance  from  the  church ;  don't 
know  whether  Mr.  Groves  ever  gave  me  anything  or  not ;  don't 
know  how  long  I  have  been  acquainted  with  him  or  where  he 
lives. 

Mr.  Clark :  Mrs.  Williams,  who  is  the  father  of  your  young- 
est child? 

The  witness  hesitated  for  some  time,  and  Mr.  Clark  repeated 
the  question,  but  received  no  reply.  He  finally  appealed  to 
the  Court,  who  instructed  the  witness  that  she  must  answer. 

1  From  The  Salt  Lake  Daily  Tribune. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  269 

Witness  :  Well.  I  can  not  tell. 

Mr.  Clark  :   You  can't  say  who  is  its  father? 

Witness :  No,  not  for  certain.  I  am  sealed  to  Mr.  Groves, 
but  not  married  to  him.  I  don't  know  whether  he  is  the  father 
of  the  child  or  not. 

Mr.  Clark :  Do  you  profess  to  be  a  respectable  woman,  Mrs. 
Williams? 

Witness :  I  do. 

Mr.  Clark :  And  yet  you  don't  know  who  is  the  father  of 
your  child? 

Witness :  AVell,  I  do  know  who  is  its  father. 

Mr.  Clark :  I  want  to  know  who  its  father  is,  and  I  am  going 
to  have  an  answer  if  I  wait  here  all  day  for  it. 

The  defendant  here  spoke  up  and  asked  if  he  might  advise 
the  witness  to  tell  the  truth,  but  was  denied  the  privilege. 

Continuing,  the  witness  said :  The  child's  name  is  Mary 
Williams.  The  defendant  has  not  occupied  the  same  bed  with 
me.     I  can  not  say  who  is  the  father  of  the  child. 

The  Court:  I  want  to  know,  Mrs.  Williams,  whether  you 
don't  know  or  whether  you  won't  tell,  and  I  want  to  say  to 
you  that  you  are  placing  yourself  very  nearly  in  contempt 
of  court,  and  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  Court  to  punish  you. 
Therefore.  I  want  to  understand  your  meaning.  If  you  refuse 
to  answer,  I  shall  commit  you  to  jail. 

Witness :  I  would  like  to  be  excused  to  consult  with  Mr. 
Groves. 

The  Court:  That  will  depend  upon  your  answer  to  my 
question. 

Witness :  Well,  I  don't  know  at  present ;  I  would  like  time 
to  think  it  over. 

Mr.  Clark :  Were  there  so  many  involved  in  it  that  you  don't 
know  who  was  its  father? 

The  witness  stubbornly  refused  to  make  any  answer,  and  at 
the  end  of  about  five  minutes  the  commissioner  grew  impa- 
tient, and  said  :  "  I  do  not  wish  to  be  harsh,  but  you  understand 
that  you  came  here  as  a  witness.  You  have  been  asked  ques- 
tions directly  in  point  and  have  refused  to  answer  them.  In 
order  to  sustain  the  dignity  of  the  Court,  I  shall  have  to  take 
some  action.  I  will  give  you  just  ten  minutes  to  decide 
whether  you  will  answer  or  not." 


270  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

The  witness  again  asked  permission  to  consult  with  the 
defendant,  which  was  again  refused.  She  then  asked  per- 
mission to  talk  with  Royal  Barney,  when  that  gentleman 
quickly  arose  and  protested  that  he  had  never  seen  the  woman 
before. 

The  defendant  again  spoke  up,  saying  that  if  he  could  advise 
the  witness  she  would  tell  the  truth. 

The  Court  (severely") :  She  is  under  oath  to  do  that,  an}rhow, 
and  I  don't  propose  that  she  shall  have  any  conversation  with 
any  one. 

At  the  end  of  ten  minutes  the  rebellious  witness  showed  no 
signs  of  weakening,  and  was  taken  into  custody  by  Deputy 
Marshal  Sprague,  who  escorted  her  to  the  marshal's  office. 

Mary  Ann  Groves  was  then  called,  and  testified:  I  live  in 
Sugar-House  ward;  am  the  defendant's  wife;  I  married  him 
twenty-three  years  ago ;  he  had  a  wife  living  at  that  time,  but 
she  has  been  dead  for  twenty  years.  I  have  six  children  living ; 
the  defendant  lives  with  me  all  the  time ;  have  heard  it  rumored 
that  he  had  another  wife;  heard  it  said  that  Mrs.  Williams  was 
his  wife ;  I  am  not  acquainted  with  her ;  called  upon  her  about 
a  year  and  a  half  ago  with  my  husband,  who  introduced  her  to 
me,  but  not  as  his  wife ;  don't  remember  when  it  was  that  I 
first  heard  she  was  married  to  the  defendant;  do  not  know 
when  the  baby  was  born;  Mr.  Groves  raises  fruit  for  the 
market  and  comes  to  town  about  once  a  week.  Mary  Ann 
has  four  children,  but  I  don't  know  what  names  they  go  by; 
never  heard  her  say  whether  she  was  married  or  sealed  to  him. 

Mrs.  Martha  Carleton,  daughter  of  the  defendant,  was  the 
next  witness.  She  said :  I  am  living  with  my  mother  in 
Sugar-House  ward ;  do  not  know  Mary  Ann  Williams;  never 
saw  her  before  to-day ;  heard  about  a  year  ago  that  she  was 
my  father's  wife,  but  don't  remember  who  first  told  me ;  have 
heard  that  she  had  a  baby  and  that  the  defendant  was  the 
father ;  don't  know  whether  he  contributes  to  her  support  or 
not. 

Margaret  Groves  testified :  I  am  the  daughter  of  the  defend- 
ant ;  am  fifteen  years  old ;  have  seen  Mary  Ann  Williams  once 
before  to-day;  she  was  at  the  meeting-house  in  Sugar-House 
ward ;  don't  know  how  she  got  there ;  she  was  never  at  our 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  271 

house ;  have  heard  her  spoken  of  in  the  family,  but  don't  know 
that  she  is  reputed  to  be  father's  wife. 

Minnie  Groves,  another  daughter  of  the  defendant,  was  then 
called,  and  testified :  I  never  saw  Mary  Ann  Williams  until 
to-day ;  have  heard  it  said  in  the  family  that  father  had  a 
plural  wife. 

Deputy  Marshal  Sprague  was  then  sent  out  for  Mrs.  Will- 
iams, and  when  she  again  took  the  stand,  Commissioner  Norrell 
asked  if  she  was  ready  to  answer  such  questions  as  the  Court 
thought  she  ought  to  answer,  to  which  the  witness  replied  that 
she  did  not  know  whether  she  could  answer  or  not;  she  was 
willing  to  tell  the  truth  as  far  as  she  knew,  however. 

Mr.  Clark:  Have  you  had  intercourse  with  more  than  one 
man  since  the  spring  of  1887? 

Witness :  No,  sir. 

Mr.  Clark:  Well,  who  was  that  man? 

Witness  :   1  could  n't  say. 

The  Court :  That  question  is  entirely  proper,  and  the  Court 
knows  that  you  can  answer  it  if  you  choose  to  do  so. 

The  witness  still  persisted  in  giving  evasive  answers  or  no 
answers  at  all,  and  was  again  escorted  from  the  room  by 
Deputy  Marshal  Sprague.  Mr.  Clark  then  suggested  that  the 
defendant  be  placed  under  somewhat  larger  bonds  than  usual. 

The  commissioner  fixed  the  bonds  at  two  thousand  dollars. 
Mis.  Williams  was  also  required  to  furnish  bonds  in  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  dollars  to  secure  her  appearance  as  a  witness 
before  the  grand  jury. 

Groves  was  arrested  a  short  time  after  this  examination  on 
the  charge  of  polygamy,  and  taken  before  Commissioner 
Norrell,  where  he  waived  examination,  and  was  placed  under 
two  thousand  dollar  bonds  to  appear  before  the  grand  jury. 

By  this  time  Mrs.  Williams  had  concluded  to  testify,  and 
was  again  brought  into  court.  She  said:  Mr.  Groves  is  the 
father  of  my  youngest  child;  he  is  my  husband;  we  were 
married  at  a  private  house  in  this  city  in  March  preceding  the 
birth  of  the  child;  I  don't  know  who  performed  the  ceremony; 
I  don't  remember  the  nature  of  the  ceremony,  but  I  considered 
that  we  were  married ;  the  defendant  has  since  supported  me. 

Mr.  Groves,  who  was  sitting  in  the  background  listening, 


272  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

here  interrupted.  The  witness  had  testified  that  she  was  his 
wife,  and  he  objected  to  her  giving  any  further  evidence. 

Mr.  Clark  stated  that  he  had  no  further  questions  to  ask. 

The  Court  stated  that  he  must  require  Mrs.  Williams  to 
furnish  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  additional  bonds  to 
secure  her  appearance  as  a  witness  on  the  polygamy  charge. 

Nothing  so  unerringly  states  the  facts  about  the  life 
of  any  people  as  their  use  of  words.  From  this  verdict 
there  is  no  appeal.  It  is  their  own  history  unconsciously 
written  by  themselves.  Violence  to  one's  mother-tongue 
may  well  be  placed  in  the  short  catalogue  of  unpardon- 
able sins. 

No  discussion  of  the  crimes  of  Mormonism  can  prop- 
erly omit  its  crimes  against  language  by  its  base  degra- 
dation of  many  of  our  noblest  and  most  sacred  words. 
Here  the  terrible  indictment  against  the  Mormons  finds 
full  proof.  A  distinguished  characteristic  of  Mormonism 
from  its  beginning  has  been  to  use  words  in  other  than 
their  true  meaning.  Consequently  there  have  come  into 
use  in  the  daily  speech  and  writings  of  the  Mormons 
words  and  phrases  which  are  used  in  a  sense  which  is 
an  utter  perversion  of  their  correct  significance. 

Were  all  other  evidences  wiped  out,  still  their  misuse 
of  language  would  stamp  their  whole  system  with  infamy. 
When  a  Mormon  is  speaking  of  his  religion  he  has  a 
double  meaning  for  his  words  :  one  for  the  Mormons  and 
one  for  the  rest  of  the  world.  His  statements  to  either 
party  are  false  as  understood  by  the  other.  It  requires 
no  small  experience  with  them  to  avoid  being  deceived  by 
this  cunning  device.  Much  of  their  success  in  winning 
converts  is  due  to  this  two-faced  vocabulary. 

Some  of  the  words  which  have  suffered  at  their  hands 
are  these  :  "  religion,"  "  wife,"  "  marriage,"  "celestial," 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  273 

" saint,"  "  spiritual,"  "revelation,"  "  apostle,"  "  teacher," 
"  angel,"  and  "  Zion." 

A  good  word  is  the  outward  label  which  they  place 
upon  beliefs  and  practices  which  would  put  heathenism  to 
blush.  The  more  damnable  the  doctrine  or  the  deed,  the 
more  hoi}7  the  word  by  which  they  name  it :  "  choosing 
the  livery  of  heaven  to  serve  the  devil  in  ;  "  robing  the 
worst  vices  in  our  holiest  words  to  drag  them  down  to 
hell! 

What  is  the  state  of  morals  among  the  Mormons  in 
Utah  at  this  time? 

For  several  years  past  the  public  has  repeatedly  been 
told,  from  Mormon  sources,  that  the  Saints  are  aban- 
doning polygamy,  and  that  the  state  of  morals  in  Utah, 
always  higher  than  that  in  the  States,  is  steadily  improv- 
ing and  has  now  reached  a  high  degree  of  sobriety  and 
virtue.  A  widespread  effort  has  been  made  to  create 
the  impression  in  the  public  mind  that  the  Mormon 
problem  is  almost  solved  ;  that  Mormonism  is  growing 
better ;  that  the  young  Mormons  repudiate  polygamy ; 
and  that  it  may  now  be  well  to  confer  upon  the  Mormons 
the  honor  and  power  of  statehood  for  Utah. 

The  first  inquiry  to  be  made  is,  What  was  the  state  of 
morals  among  the  Mormons  during  the  five  years,  1884  to 
1890,  in  which  they  claim  to  have  made  such  great 
progress  toward  decency? 

The  vulgarity  of  language  among  older  Mormons  is 
well  known,  but  the  young  Mormons  and  children  of 
to-day  put  to  blush  even  their  own  parents.  What  else 
could  be  expected  when  from  the  pulpit  at  the  Sunday 
services  subscriptions  have  been  taken  up  to  buy  a 
blooded  bull  amid  vulgarities  which  would  put  heathenism 
to  shame  ? 


274  The  Mormon  .Delusion. 

An  estimable  lady  resident  of  Utah  of  long  experience 
writes  me:  "  A  noticeable  fact  is  that  so  few  Mormons 
realize  that  the}7  are  in  a  sad  condition  at  all,  so  low 
are  their  ideas  of  morality  and  manhood." 

Recently  an  Englishman  who  was  a  teacher  became  a 
Mormon  and  came  to  Utah  to  earn  money  to  send  back 
for  his  wife  and  daughter.  When  he  did  so  they  were  to 
come  in  the  care  of  a  Mormon  elder.  But  the  elder 
persuaded  the  wife  to  become  one  of  his  wives,  and 
has  since  been  kept  in  hiding,  and  the  husband  can  not 
find  her  nor  his  daughter. 

This  is  only  one  of  so  many  similar  occurrences  that 
they  are  scarcely  considered  in  Utah  as  worthy  of  note. 
No  woman  who  is  a  believer  in  Mormonism,  whether  she 
be  of  pure  intent  or  not,  whether  married  or  single, 
young  or  old,  is  safe  when  placed  in  the  care  of  a 
Mormon  elder. 

An  entirely  reliable  lady,  who  resides  in  Utah,  writes  to 
the  author  under  date  of  April  25,  1888  :  — 

"There  is  great  excitement  here  now  among  the  poor 
ignorant  foreigners.  When  they  came  here  they  bought 
their  farms  from  the  Mormon  bishop.  No  deeds  were 
given  them,  the  bishop  telling  them  that  '  it  was  all 
right.'  and,  having  implicit  faith  in  their  church  and  its 
officials,  they  paid  their  money  and,  as  they  supposed, 
owned  the  land.  It  now  transpires  that  the  bishop  has 
been  selling  some  of  the  land  over  again  to  other  parties, 
while  he  had  never  owned  part  that  lie  had  sold.  Some 
of  the  farmers  have  had  to  pay  over  again,  and  some 
have  been  able  to  get  title  to  only  a  part  of  what  they 
had  paid  for. 

"  As  for  punishment  of  these  polygamists  by  putting 
them  into  the  penitentiary,  it  does  not  seem  to  do  much 


TJi e  Mormon  Delusion.  275 

good  here,  for  when  they  return  "it  is  to  live  nearly  as 
they  did  before,  only  they  are  not  quite  so  open  about  it. 
The  two  wives  and  families  of  one  man  who  has  lately 
returned  from  prison  for  polygamy  met  together  on  the 
evening  of  his  return  and  gave  him  a  supper.  Another, 
who  had  three  wives,  and  was  about  to  take  a  fourth  and 
then  go  with  her  '  on  a  mission,'  deserting  the  others,  was 
informed  on  by  some  one  in  one  of  the  families,  and  he 
has  just  been  arrested. 

"Many  perjure  themselves  to  escape  paying  their 
fines,  making  oath  that  they  have  no  property  when  it 
is  known  here  that  they  are  well  off.  Most  of  the 
church  officials  are  rich.  Some  of  the  poor  polygamists 
would  as  soon  spend  the  winter  in  the  penitentiary  as 
out  of  it,  for  they  say  they  have  there  plenty  to  eat  and 
an  easy  time,  while  their  families  are  helped  by  the 
church,  and  they  themselves  are  feasted  before  and  after 
going  by  their  friends,  and  made  much  of  because  they 
are  '  suffering  for  the  gospel's  sake.' 

"Notices  of  dances  are  given  out  on  Sunday  at  the 
church.  The  drinking,  swearing,  and  fighting  at  these 
dances  (often  four  or  five  in  one  week)  is  fearful.  Two 
boys,  aged  twelve  and  fifteen  years,  were  lately  taken 
home  dead  drunk  from  an  evening  dance.  Mormon 
missionaries  are  given  a  dance  on  their  return.  Not 
long  ago  we  heard  a  missionary  report  who  had  just 
returned  from  the  Southern  States.  He  said  that  he 
'  found  ignorance  and  immorality  everywhere  except 
among  the  Lord's  chosen  people '  (  !)  ;  that  in  one  place 
he  had  expected  to  make  a  good  many  converts,  but  got 
a  chance  to  '  duck'  only  six  there. 

"  These  poor  people  have  been  taxed  this  winter  until 
some  scarcelv  know  where  the  next  meal  is  to  come  from. 


276  Tlie  Mormon  Delusion. 

One  old  lad}7  tells  rne  that  she  never  knew  so  much  pov- 
erty among  them,  for  so  inany  extra  gifts  have  been 
required  to  pay  the  expenses  of  their  lawyers  at  Wash- 
ington. They  have  even  tried  to  get  the  people  here  to 
give  up  tea  and  coffee  and  give  the  money  to  the  church. 

"  A  Mormon  recently  murdered  a  G-entile  in  a  neigh- 
boring town,  and  the  Mormon  constable,  who  could 
neither  read  nor  write,  said  '  the  church  ought  to  get 
him  cleared,  for  he  had  brought  more  people  into  the 
church  than  any  other  man,  and  the  man  who  was  killed 
was  only  an  outsider,  any  way.' 

"  The  Mormon  cooperative  store  here  was  closed  up  a 
few  years  ago  and  everything  went  into  the  hands  of  the 
church  officials,  while  the  people  lost  all  that  they  had  put 
in.  That  is  the  way  everything  is  managed.  AVhen  the 
store  was  in  operation  it  was  given  out  that  every  one 
must  trade  there,  but  one  man  had  a  little  store  of  his 
own,  and  some  patronized  him,  as  his  prices  were  more 
reasonable.  But  he  was  visited  one  night  after  retiring 
and,  as  the  result,  his  store  was  never  opened  again,  and 
he  left  town.  The  Mormon  bishop  had  charge  of  the 
cooperative  store  and  was  also  postmaster.  Money  was 
very  scarce,  and  some  had  none  at  all.  One  poor  old 
woman  wanted  to  send  a  letter,  and  having  no  money, 
took  a  pound  of  butter  to  the  store  to  get  a  stamp,  but 
the  bishop  made  her  give  the  whole  pound  of  butter  for 
one  stamp.  The  bishop  always  took  such  advantages 
when  the  times  were  hard. 

;'  I  see  here  so  much  that  is  painful  to  me  that  I  can 
not  bear  to  know  more  of  such  incideuts  than  comes  to 
me  necessarily.  But  I  do  hope  the  time  will  speedily 
come  when  these  people  will  learn  that  the  United  States 
government  has  something  to  do  with  all  who  live  within 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  27  7 

her  borders,  and  not,  as  one  old  Mormon  stoutly  declared 
the  other  day,  that  this  was  a  free  country  and  the 
United  States  government  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
way  he  lived.  And  to-day  he  is  living  with  his  two 
wives  as  though  there  was  no  law  to  the  contrary." 

"  One  family  in  Utah  stated  in  1888  that  their  children 
had  to  grow  up  without  attending  school,  for  the  parents 
withdrew  from  the  Mormon  Church,  and,  as  all  children 
were  taught  to  do  all  the  harm  they  could  to  "outsiders," 
these  children  of  an  apostate  family  would  have  been 
killed  had  they  continued  in  school. 

"  The  same  family  states  that  when  they  lived  in 
Brigham  City,  another  family  lived  in  the  other  half  of 
the  same  house  with  themselves  and  left  the  church,  and, 
knowing  their  danger,  they  left  secretly  at  midnight  two 
days  earlier  than  they  were  expected  to  go.  The  second 
night  after  their  departure  the  family  remaining  in  the 
other  part  of  the  house  were  awakened  by  loud  knocks, 
and  upon  opening  the  door  three  men  walked  in  who  had 
their  hands  and  faces  blackened,  and  stated  that  they  had 
mistaken  the  door,  as  they  wanted  to  see  the  family  who 
were  going  to  move.  In  former  days  these  men  were 
called  the  '  Black  Teachers  for  Apostates,'  and  many 
were  murdered  by  them. 

"  These  people  have  no  idea  of  giving  up  polygamy. 
Two  Mormons  were  overheard  conversing  a  few  days  ago. 
One  said  he  should  take  another  wife  as  soon  as  Utah 
became  a  state.  The  second  replied :  '  But  we  have 
promised  to  give  up  polygamy  ; '  to  which  the  first  an- 
swered :  '  That  was  only  for  a  short  time,  and  if  there  is 
any  further  trouble  about  it,  we  will  fight  it  out.'  There 
is  among  them  here  a  perfect  understanding  that  anti- 
polygamy  is  only  a  ruse  for  getting  statehood.     One  Mor- 


278  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

mon  boldly  said  the  other  day  :  '  What  is  Mormonism 
without  polygamy?  Take  that  away,  and  where  is  our 
religion  ?  ' 

"  Profanity  is  universal  among  the  Mormons.  Even 
the  children  are  profane  in  the  ordinary  talk,  and  think 
nothing  of  it.  There  is  scarcely  a  person  in  this  town 
who  does  not  drink.  Parents  give  whiskey  to  their  little 
children.  The  children  are  generally  as  willing  to  tell  a 
lie  as  the  truth. 

"  One  old  Mormon  woman  loaned  her  money  to  a 
polygamist,  and  when  she  needed  it  he  put  her  off  by 
saying  that  he  could  not  pay  it  then,  but  that  it  would  be 
all  right  in  the  resurrection  ;  that  then  she  would  get 
double  pay.  Her  daughter  replied  :  '  Well,  mother,  we 
have  to  live  while  we  stay  here,  and  we  don't  want  all  our 
pay  to  be  postponed  until  the  resurrection.'  But  the 
mother  was  evidently  satisfied,  and  had  faith  in  her 
bishop." 

A  reliable  person  in  Utah  writes  the  author  under  date 
of  February  20,   1888:  — 

"  Polygamy  is  very  prevalent  here.  One  house  of  a 
single  room  near  me  contains  two  wives  and  their  fami- 
lies, one  of  the  women  being  black  and  the  other  white, 
with  nineteen  children  of  all  ages  and  of  all  degrees  of 
color  from  black  to  white. 

"Recently  a  man  in  town  (first  councillor  to  the 
bishop)  buried  his  wife,  and  on  the  same  day  as  the 
funeral,  which  lasted  from  ten  o'clock  a.m.  until  three 
o'clock  p.m.,  he  was  married  to  another  wife,  although 
already  being  in  polygamy  ! 

"  These  are  but  examples  of  what  this  town  is  like.  I 
never  heard  nor  imagined  such  things  as  I  can  not  help 
but   see    here    every  day   of    my  life.     Such   ignorance, 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  279 

intemperance,   and   immorality    I    never    saw    as    exists 
here. 

"  Many  openly  say  they  will  take  more  wives  as  soon 
as  they  gain  statehood  and  can  control  their  own  affairs. 
Fear  of  the  penitentiary  is  the  only  thing  which  restrains 
them  now.  Tithes  are  as  much  required  as  they  ever 
were.  This  whole  town  is  ruled  by  the  bishop,  and  no 
one  would  suppose  this  place  to  be  in  the  United  States. 
I  earnestly  wish  that  our  whole  country  might  be  aroused 
to  a  man  over  this  dreadful  stain  upon  our  nation." 

At  a  funeral  in  Salt  Lake  City,  in  April,  1888,  held 
in  the  Tenth  Ward  meeting-house,  seven  men  spoke,  one 
of  whom  was  the  bishop  of  the  eleventh  ward.  Among 
other  things  he  said  he  had  heard  that  statehood  would 
not  be  given  to  Utah  as  long  as  polygamy  was  practiced, 
or  while  the  priesthood  had  the  power ;  but  for  his  part 
he  had  never  asked  for  statehood,  and  never  should,  for 
he  "should  consider  it  a  disgrace  to  belong  to  such  a 
nation  as  the  United  States." 

Since  the  United  States  courts  have  been  sending 
Mormons  to  the  penitentiary  for  violations  of  the  laws 
against  polygamy  and  unlawful  cohabitation,  it  has  been 
the  custom,  at  the  anniversary  services  in  the  Mormon 
Tabernacle  in  Salt  Lake  City,  to  drape  the  auditorium 
in  mourning  for  those  who  are  in  the  penitentiary,  leave 
the  pulpit  unoccupied,  and  wreathe  the  vacant  seats  with 
such  expressions  as:  "In  prison  for  conscience'  sake," 
"  Suffering  for  righteousness,"  etc. 

Do  such  public  manifestations  of  sympathy  with  law- 
breakers indicate  that  the  Mormon  people  are  ready  to 
obey  the  laws  and  give  up  their  unholy  and  unlawful 
practices  ?  When  such  people  compose  three  fourths  of 
the  population  of  Utah,  is  it  sane  to  entrust  them  with 


280  The  Mormon   Delusion. 

statehood  ?  Does  a  mere  form  of  words  against  polyg- 
amy, used  in  order  to  secure  statehood,  weigh  against 
the  evidently  disloyal  spirit  of  that  whole  people  ? 

The  Provo  (Utah)  American  (in  January,  1888)  re- 
ported a  Mormon  case  where  a  man  is  "  brother-in-law  to 
his  own  children,  his  own  wife's  stepfather,  and  grand- 
father of  his  own  children."  When  he  (James  Butler,  of 
Spring  Lake)  was  brought  before  the  United  States  Court, 
Mrs.  Wimby  testified  that  when  she  was  a  widow  with 
two  daughters,  and  Mr.  Butler  was  a  widower,  she  went 
to  keep  house  for  him,  and  had  several  children  by  him, 
as  she  said  she  thought  was  usual  in  such  cases.  She 
said  Mr.  Butler  stood  proxy  for  her  dead  husband,  or 
she  stood  proxy  for  his  dead  wife,  she  hardly  knew 
which,  but  these  children  would  be  handed  over  to  Mr. 
Wimby  in  the  next  world.  "When  her  daughter  by  Mr. 
Wimby  was  fifteen  years  old,  Mr.  Butler  married  the 
daughter.  This  daughter  was  then  sworn,  and  testified 
that  she  was  the  legal  wife  of  Mr.  Butler  ;  she  did  not 
know  whether  her  mother  and  Mr.  Butler  had  been  mar- 
ried or  not ;  that  was  a  matter  that  did  not  concern  her, 
and  she  had  not  taken  the  trouble  to  inquire  into  it,  but 
some  of  her  mother's  children  call  him  their  father,  and 
she  herself  had  two  children  by  him. 

"Brigham  Young  Academy"  is  a  Mormon  Church 
school  for  both  sexes,  located  at  Provo,  Utah.  In  one 
year  it  was  reported  that  sixteen  girls  were  sent  home 
from  this  institution  because  they  were  in  a  condition 
improper  for  unmarried  ladies.  This  was  published  in 
The  Salt  Lake  Tribune,  and  although  the  Mormon  papers 
made  a  fuss  about  it,  they  dropped  the  matter  without 
denial.  A  prominent  and  reliable  citizen  of  that  terri- 
tory savs  :   "  There  is  no  doubt  about  the  fact," 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  281 

A  prominent  citizen  of  Salt  Lake  City,  as  entirely 
reliable  as  any  one  who  reads  these  lines,  in  writing  of 
these  things,  says:  "The  other  things  I  can  not  bring 
myself  to  commit  to  paper.  1  am  sorry  to  write  these. 
I  never  before  in  my  life  placed  such  things  on  paper, 
and  I  hope  you  will  burn  this  letter  as  soon  as  you  have 
transcribed  these  facts,  for  I  feel  as  if  this  very  station- 
ery were  polluted.  But  in  view  of  these  and  a  thousand 
other  facts  patent  to  us  who  live  here,  there  can  be  no 
question  as  to  the  terribly  low  state  of  morals  among  the 
young  people  of  this  territory.  I  am  glad  that  you  have 
the  nerve  to  let  these  things  be  known,  if  by  so  doing 
anything  can  be  done  to  purify  the  air  of  Utah." 

A  lady  of  high  character  who  has  resided  in  Utah  for 
some  years  writes  me  :  "I  can  not  tell  you  how  I  deplore 
the  state  of  morals  wherever  I  have  come  in  contact  with 
the  Mormon  people.  Even  their  songs  and  Sabbath-school 
hymns  are,  many  of  them,  low  and  vulgar.  In  one  town 
it  was  found  that  there  was  not  a  pure  boy  or  girl,  even 
among  those  quite  young  ;  and  the  conversation  of  every 
day  is  too  degrading.  I  have  carefully  thought  over  by 
name  the  Mormons  with  whom  I  have  become  acquainted, 
and  I  can  not  name  one  with  whom  I  would  be  willing  to 
associate  as  with  eastern  friends."  The  same  lady  adds  : 
"  The  tendency  among  Mormons  to  intemperance  is  per- 
fectly horrible,  and  daily  growing  stronger.  To  my  cer- 
tain knowledge,  in  some  families  every  child,  down  to  the 
infant,  sits  and  drinks,  and  the  family  laugh  to  see  how 
the  five-year-old  boy  likes  the  liquor.  In  one  town  there 
was  but  one  woman  in  the  place  who  did  not  drink.  At 
their  '  balls,'  which  are  a  semi-weekly  occurrence,  young 
girls,  and  mothers  with  babes  in  their  arms,  attend  and 
go  outside  to  drink,  and  the  adjoining  fences  are  after- 
wards found  to  be  lined  with  empty  bottles." 


282  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

The  Mormons  boast  that  their  system  promotes  vir- 
tue(  !),  and  that  they  have  no  "  brothels."  With  twelve 
thousand  polygamous  families  in  a  population  of  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-five  thousand,  there  would  seem  to  be  no 
occasion  for  any  other  kind  of  brothels.  As  for  the  claim 
that  Mormon  young  people  repudiate  polygamy,  the  above 
facts  show  that  the  only  basis  of  truth  in  that  claim  is 
that  the  young  generation  of  Mormons  do  not  take  the 
trouble  to  marry  before  practicing  polygamy.  A  very 
intelligent  and  trustworthy  gentleman,  who  has  resided  in 
Utah  for  a  score  of  years,  writes  in  1888:  "The  worst 
is,  these  young  Mormons  do  not  seem  to  understand  that 
such  things  are  wrong,  and  have  no  higher  sense  of  virtue. 
A  broad  and  marked  distinction  should  be  drawn  in  this 
regard  between  the  older  generation  of  Mormon  women 
who  had  been  brought  up  with  higher  notions  and  in  a 
different  atmosphere,  and  those  who  were  born  here  and 
have  never  known  anything  different  or  better.  The 
Mormon  men  have  far  less  difficulty  in  persuading  the 
young  Mormon  women  of  to-day  to  enter  into  polygamous 
relations  than  their  mothers  and  grandmothers,  who  had 
seen  purer  society  and  known  higher  standards." 

Startling  and  shameful  as  the  facts  here  stated  are,  yet 
the  more  vile  doctrines  and  facts  are  withheld.  They  are 
too  indecent  for  print  or  speech  or  thought.  The  chief 
difficulty  in  writing  about  Utah  is  to  disclose  enough,  and 
yet  keep  within  the  bounds  of  propriety.  The  vulgarity 
and  obscenity  of  Mormon  preaching,  in  the  presence  of 
hundreds,  and  sometimes  thousands,  of  women  and  chil- 
dren, is  shocking.  No  vile  sheet  outside  of  Utah  would 
dare  publish  some  of  these  harangues  as  they  fall  from 
Mormon  pulpits  ;  nor  even  after  they  have  been  revised 
and  published  in   The  Deseret  News,  the  Mormon  organ. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  288 

There  is  an  exceedingly  pathetic  side  also  to  the  story  of 
the  Mormons.  Could  there  come  to  the  ear  of  the  public 
the  bitter  cries  from  crushed  hopes,  despairing  hearts, 
hopeless  lives,  and  blind  cryings  unto  God  which  are 
hidden  in  every  Mormon  household  iu  Utah,  there  would 
be  much  sympathy  aud  sorrow.  Only  rarely  has  any  one 
who  has  suffered  in  Mormonism  unveiled  to  the  world  a 
view  of  those  heart  miseries.  From  the  pitiful  stories  of 
Mrs.  Stenhouse  and  Mary  Burton  we  get  some  genuine 
"  revelations  "  out  of  Mormonism.  But  Mormon  women 
have  the  nature  of  their  sex  the  world  over.  Their  pride 
and  shrinking  from  the  public  gaze  lead  them  to  conceal 
their  deepest  sorrows,  especially  from  Gentile  eyes  and 
ears,  whom  they  have  been  reared  to  regard  with  sus- 
picion, and  often  with  hatred.  Sometimes  voices  are 
heard  from  heartaches  among  the  Mormons  which  seem 
like  cries  of  woe  borne  in  midnight  darkness  upon  the 
wings  of  the  wind.  A  friend  relates  that  he  was  crossing 
the  Rocky  Mountains  in  1860  to  California,  in  company 
with  others  in  a  train  of  ox-teams.  They  camped  a  few 
days  near  Salt  Lake  City.  When  they  were  about  to 
move  on,  a  woman  came  to  them  and  asked  to  be  taken 
with  them  that  she  might  escape  from  the  Mormons.  The 
company  hesitated,  and  she  pleaded  with  tears  that  they 
would  rescue  her.  Brigham  Young  was  then  at  the 
height  of  his  remorseless  power,  and  the  company,  fear- 
ing that  she  might  be  a  spy  sent  out  by  the  Mormons,  or 
that  if  they  yielded  to  her  pathetic  appeals,  they  might 
be  "  cut  off,"  as  the  Mountain  Meadows  emigrants  had 
been,  felt  obliged  to  refuse  her  request. 

A  Mormon  and  his  wife  moved  to  southern  Utah  from 
the  States  many  years  ago,  taking  with  them  a  little  girl 
who  was  the  wife's  sister.     When  this  girl  grew  up,  he 


284  The  Mormon  Delusion, 

made  her  his  plural  wife.  He  appeared  to  be  a  sincere 
Mormon,  and  when  the  Edmunds  law  was  passed,  he 
gave  up  this  second  wife.  The  anxiety  and  trouble  con- 
nected with  these  events  drove  him  insane,  and  he  com- 
mitted suicide.  Two  of  his  daughters  by  his  first  wife 
made  polygamous  marriages.  The  husband  of  one  of 
these  was  recently  shot  dead  by  United  States  officers 
while  he  was  attempting  to  escape  arrest  by  them  on  a 
charge  of  being  a  polygamist.  Another  daughter  of  this 
family  somehow  found  her  way  to  Salt  Lake  City  and  into 
one  of  the  Christian  schools  there,  and  became  converted 
and  an  exemplary  follower  of  Christ.  When  she  returned 
to  her  home  she  was  much  ridiculed  by  her  mother  and 
sisters  because  of  her  Christian  profession.  At  the  latest 
account  (January,  1889),  she  had  not  been  able  to  return 
to  the  Christian  school  for  lack  of  means  to  pay  her 
expenses,  although  she  had  expressed,  with  pitiful  ear- 
nestness, her  strong  desire  to  get  away  from  her  hateful 
surroundings. 

In  July,  1888,  Mrs.  Elisabeth  Trumbull  Rutter  fell 
upon  the  street  in  Chicago,  and  when  removed  to  a 
hospital  gave  the  following  account  of  her  sufferings  at 
the  hands  of  the  Mormons.1 

Seven  years  ago  a  brace  of  Mormon  elders  held  meet- 
ings at  North  Shields,  England,  and  held  out  great 
promises  to  those  who  would  go  to  Utah.  A  Methodist 
family,  consisting  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rutter,  son,  and 
daughter,  attended  the  meetings,  and  the  son  soon  went 
to  Utah,  despite  his  parents'  protests.  They  heard  nothing 
from  him  for  over  two  years  ;  then  the  father  set  out  in 
search  of  him.  Soon  after  the  mother  received  a  letter 
from  the  son  saying  that  the  Mormons  took  all  his  money 

1  Chicago  Inter-Ocean ,  July  15,  1888. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  285 

from  him  and  that  he  wrote  as  soon  as  he  could .  Upon 
reaching  Ogden,  Avhere  the  son  was,  the  father,  being  a 
Gentile,  could  get  no  work  among  the  Mormons.  Know- 
ing that  his  wife  was  suffering  for  the  necessaries  of  life, 
he  joined  the  Mormons  and  then  had  work.  From  his 
first  savings  he  enclosed  $40  in  a  letter  to  his  wife, 
saying  that  he  would  return  to  England  as  soon  as  he 
could  save  money  enough.  The  letter  was  given  to  a 
Mormon  to  mail,  but  it  never  reached  its  destination  ;  but 
she  received  from  the  Mormon  missionaries  at  her  home 
a  letter  purporting  to  be  from  her  husband  inclosing  $40 
and  telling  her  it  was  to  pay  her  fare  to  Utah  and  that 
she  should  sail  by  first  vessel.  Mrs.  Rutter  obeyed  the 
instructions  and,  in  charge  of  Elder  Charles  Henry 
Greenwall,  set  out  with  the  next  consignment  of  emi- 
grants. Her  treatment  on  the  vessel,  she  says,  was 
terrible.  The  Mormon  elders,  "  in  the  name  of  God 
and  the  Saints,"  submitted  one  woman  to  the  grossest 
indignities.  All  repulses  were  met  with  the  argument 
that  the  elders  were  licensed  by  the  church  of  which  all 
were  to  become  members.  Some  few  of  the  women 
resisted  the  advances,  and  they  were  repaid  with  the 
most  cruel  neglect.  On  arriving  at  Castle  Garden,  Mrs. 
Rutter  was  ill  from  the  effect  of  her  voyage,  and  was 
treated  with  the  utmost  indifference,  while  the  women 
who  had  been  more  accommodating  to  the  elders  received 
every  attention.  It  was  three  days  before  they  started 
for  Ogden,  and  on  her  arrival  there  she  was  met  by  her 
husband,  who  had  been  notified  of  her  coming,  but  was 
at  a  loss  to  understand  the  reason  of  it.  When  he  heard 
of  the  letter  he  was  more  indignant  than  ever,  and  the 
couple  resolved  that  they  would  leave  as  soon  as  circum- 
stances would  permit.     Past  experience  had  shown  Mr. 


28b  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Rutter  the  futility  of  going  against  the  wishes  of  the 
Mormon  Church,  and  it  was  resolved  to  keep  their  deter- 
mination a  secret,  and  pretend  to  join  the  church.  This 
was  done,  and  Mrs.  Rutter  announced  that  she  would  be 
endowed  as  soon  as  she  felt  spiritualty  pure  enough. 
Mr.  Rutter  said  he  would  go  in  with  his  wife.  The 
pressure  was  made  so  strong  that  they  were  about  to  go 
through  the  ceremony  of  joining  the  church,  when  a  lady 
who  had  recently  been  endowed  told  Mrs.  Rutter  about 
it  and  she  resolved  that  she  would  die  before  submitting 
to  the  indecent  ordeal.  She  told  her  husband  of  what 
she  had  heard  and  he  too  resolved  to  keep  away  from 
the  Endowment  House.  By  one  excuse  or  another  the 
endowment  ceremony  was  put  off  from  time  to  time  until 
last  August,  when  the  crop  on  Mr.  Rutter's  farm  was 
about  ready  to  cut.  It  was  a  good  season,  and  the  pro- 
ceeds, with  the  money  which  could  be  realized  on  the 
sale  of  the  horse,  cow,  and  agricultural  implements, 
would  be  more  than  sufficient  to  take  the  couple  back 
to  England.  Then  one  day  Mr.  Rutter  told  a  young 
Mormon  friend  of  his  intention.  Two  days  later  he 
was  brought  home  dead  —  drowned,  the  Mormons  told 
his  wife,  though  there  was  the  mark  of  a  terrible  blow 
on  the  back  of  his  head,  and  the  blood  was  still  oozing 
from  the  mouth  and  nose. 

There  was  no  pretence  of  an  investigation,  and  when 
the  woman  demanded  her  husband's  property  she  was 
told  that  it  belonged  to  the  church.  She  was  told  that  if 
she  would  go  to  the  Endowment  House  at  once  she  would 
be  given  a  young  husband,  and  would  be  received  into 
the  community.  Mrs.  Rutter  reserved  her  answer  for  a 
night,  and  during  that  night  she  fled  to  Ogden  City, 
where   she  found  employment  in   a  hotel,   and  remained 


TJie  Mormon  Delusion.  287 

there  until  a  week  ago,  when  she  thought  she  had  saved 
enough  to  pay  her  passage  home. 

On  her  way  she  found  that  she  should  probably  not 
have  enough  money  to  get  through,  and  tried  to  do 
without  food.  Fainting  from  hunger,  while  walking  on 
the  street  in  Chicago  she  fell  to  the  ground  in  sheer 
exhaustion  and  was  taken  to  a  hospital.  Through  the 
help  of  the  British  Consul  in  Chicago  she  was  soon 
started  on  her  way  homeward. 

Talking  of  her  life  among  the  Mormons,  Mrs.  Rutter  said 
that  Elder  G-reenwall,  who  took  her  over,  had  two  wives, 
and  his  eldest  son  had  also  two.  All  lived  in  one  house 
and  had  fully  a  score  of  children.  Holbert,  Mr.  Rutter's 
partner,  had  two  wives,  but  they  would  not  live  together, 
and  one  stayed  on  the  farm  while  another  lived  in  Ogden. 
There  was  a  bishop  named  Hart,  who  caused  a  great 
scandal  just  before  she  left.  The  worthy  bishop  had 
four  wives  and  fourteen  children,  but  he  envied  another 
man  his  spouse  and  ran  away  with  her. 

Mrs.  Rutter  said  that  they  have  many  converts  in 
Liverpool,  where  they  have  a  tabernacle,  though  they  do 
not  practice  bigamy,  it  being  too  dangerous.  They  are 
baptized  in  the  Liverpool  temple,  but  are  not  accepted  as 
full-fledged  members  until  they  emigrate  and  are  endowed 
at  the  tabernacle  at  Salt  Lake  City. 

The  reader  will  not  fail  to  note  that  the  treatment  of 
this  Rutter  family  is  an  illustration  of  Mormon  methods 
in  1888. 


288  TJie  Mormon  Delusion. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

THE  MORMONS  AND  CONGRESS.  JUDGE  MCKEAN. JUDGE 

ZANE.  GEORGE  Q.  CANNON. 

WHEN  Mrs.  Ann  Eliza  Young  brought  suit  against 
Brigham  Young  for  divorce  aud  alimony  in 
March,  1875,  Brigham  acknowledged  in  his  answer  that 
he  had  married  the  plaintiff,  but  that,  as  he  already  had 
a  wife,  the  marriage  to  Ann  Eliza  was  illegal.  Judge 
McKean  ruled  that,  having  admitted  a  marriage  to  Ann 
Eliza,  Brigham  must  prove  that  it  was  illegal,  and  that 
meantime  he  must  pay  a  monthly  alimony  to  Ann  Eliza. 
This  decision  pierced  Brigham  at  two  most  tender  points. 
To  pay  money  to  a  wife  who  had  left  his  harem,  and  to 
be  required  to  prove  in  open  court  that  all  polygamous 
wives  were  illegal,  would  be  the  entering  wedge  to  the 
rending  of  his  polygamous  system.  His  anger  knew  no 
bounds,  and  he  refused  to  obey  the  court.  Judge  McKean 
ordered  him  to  prison  for  contempt  of  court. 

"  The  Mormons  were  utterly  confounded.  Never  before 
had  hope  so  utterly  died  within  them  ;  their  prophet  and 
leader,  who  had  sworn  that  if  the  officers  of  the  law 
tried  to  arrest  him,  he  would  '  send  them  all  to  hell 
across  lots,'  was  in  prison.  The  hand  of  the  law  was 
heavy  upon  them ;  the  tide  of  affairs  was  against  them  ; 
and  many  who  had  been  supposed  strong  in  the  faith 
were  beginning  to  talk  of  their  coming  dissolution  as  an 
organized  power."  l 

The  United  States  marshal  took  the  prophet  to  the 
penitentiary   four    miles    from    Salt    Lake    City.      "The 

1  The  Mormon  Problem, 


The  Mormon  Delusion,  289 

G-entiles  had  at  last  laid  an  impious  hand  upon  the 
Lord's  anointed  !  The  whole  city  was  in  an  uproar.  A 
procession  of  a^bout  twenty  carriages  followed  the  one 
in  which  the  prophet  rode.  A  little  later  in  the  after- 
noon two  wagon-loads  of  arms  and  ammunition  were 
brought  out  to  Brigham's  factory,  about  half  a  mile  from 
the  penitentiary,  and  when  darkness  began  to  settle  down 
upon  the  valley,  seven  hundred  armed  men,  some  on 
horseback,  some  on  foot,  surrounded  the  prison  walls 
and  the  warden's  house,  bent  upon  rescuing  the  prophet 
at  any  cost.  The  warden  had  fourteen  prisoners  inside 
the  walls,  and  only  two  guards  to  aid  him.  He  had 
besides,  in  an  upper  room,  his  wife  and  his  little  chil- 
dren, one  of  them  a  baby  only  a  few  weeks  old.  The 
threatening  demonstrations  outside  increased,  but  fortu- 
nately neither  the  prisoner  nor  his  would-be  rescuers  had 
any  idea  of  the  weakness  of  the  garrison."  l 

When  the  marshal  told  Brigham  that  the  mob  would  be 
fired  upon  if  they  came  nearer,  the  prophet  was  seized 
with  his  usual  fit  of  cowardice  and  tremulously  sent 
word   to  his  friends  to  fall  back. 

Judge  McKean's  decision  was  unquestionably  correct, 
as  has  been  repeatedly  affirmed  by  his  successors.  "  He 
had  a  grip  upon  the  throat  of  Mormonism  that  has  never 
been  equaled.  But  all  at  ouce  the  message  is  flashed 
across  the  wires:  'Judge  McKean  is  removed.' 

"  The  Mormons  went  wild  with  joy.  Loud  and  long 
were  their  triumphal  shouts,  and  they  made  Utah  ring 
with  the  refrain  :  — 

'  The  Lord  hath  triumphed  gloriously ! 
The  horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea.' 

1  Bate  of  Madame  La  Tour,  p.  298. 


290  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

"The  priesthood  had  caused  a  false  report  to  be  sent 
abroad,  and  took  good  care  that  it  should  be  so  laid 
before  the  government  and  heralded  in  the  press,  that 
Judge  McKean  in  his  decision  '  had  recognized  polygamy 
as  valid  marriage.'  The  non-Mormons  in  Utah  burdened 
the  mails  and  heated  the  wires  with  evidence  that  this 
was  false;  but  all  to  no  effect."  ' 

It  was  afterward  stated  confidentially  by  a  trustworthy 
United  States  senator  that  "  Judge  McKean's  decision 
had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  his  removal.     I  was  with 

the  President  when  he  was  visited  by  Senator  and 

Senator    ,    and    they   jointly    requested    him,    as    a 

personal  and  political  favor,  to  remove  Judge  McKean 
and  appoint  his  successor.  The  President,  just  at  this 
time,  is  none  too  strong  in  the  senate.  In  view  of  other 
great  public  interests  he  feels  that  he  can  not  quarrel 
with  two  senators  over  a  territorial  judgeship.  He  has 
removed  the  judge  at  their  request,  and  the  judicial 
decision  has  been  falsified  to  him  and  to  the  world  as 
a  pretext  for  the  removal." 

"One  of  the  two  senators  was  the  same  that  secured 
the  defeat  of  the  practical  features  of  the  Poland  bill. 
The  other  has  been  considered  in  Utah  for  years  as 
a  paid  attorney  of  Brigham  Young  to  look  after  the 
interests  of  Mormonism  at  Washington."2 

Many  efficient  bills  have  been  introduced  into  Congress 
respecting  Utah,  but  several  influences  —  some  members 
who  have  evidently  been  working  in  the  interests  of  the 
Mormons,  aided  by  the  Mormon  attorneys  and  the  Gen- 
tile attorneys  for  the  Mormons,  and  the  lobby  of  Mormon 
women  who  are  always  in  Washington  during  a  session  of 
Congress  —  all  these  have  combined  to  defeat  nearly  all 

1  The  Mormon  Problem.  -  Ibid. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  291 

such  bills,  or  to  so  amend  them  as  to  reDder  them  of  little 
value.  Brigham  Young  is  reported  to  have  said  to  his 
Mormon  friends  who  were  anxious  lest  a  certain  bill 
should  pass  Congress  :  "  Give  yourselves  no  uneasiness, 
for  I  have  drawn  a  goodly  draft  upon  the  tithing  fund. 
When  I  put  my  hand  into  one  pocket,  I  put  Congress 
into  the  other  pocket." 

The  first  legislation  in  Congress  directly  aimed  at  the 
extirpation  of  polygamy  in  Utah  was  what  is  known  as 
the  Cullom  law,  as  the  bill  was  introduced  by  Senator 
S.  M.  Cullom,  of  Illinois.  It  defined  polygamy  as  a  crime, 
and  provided  penalties  for  it,  but  did  not  give  sufficient 
facilities  to  the  United  States  courts  for  the  execution  of 
the  law,  and  left  the  juries  in  the  hands  of  the  Mormons, 
and  hence  this  feature  of  the  law  became  practically  a 
dead  letter.  Another  provision  of  this  law,  however, 
has  proved  of  great  value  toward  breaking  down  the 
civil  power  of  the  Mormon  Church.  This  was  the  enact- 
ment which  made  it  unlawful  for  any  church  in  a  territory 
to  hold  more  than  fifty  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  prop- 
erty. Under  this  law  property  of  much  value  unlawfully 
held  by  the  church  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints  has  passed 
into  the  hands  of  a  receiver  appointed  by  the  United 
States  courts,  as  set  forth  in  detail  elsewhere. 

Next  came  the  Poland  law  of  1874  (introduced  by 
Senator  Poland,  of  Vermont),  which,  as  originally  drawn, 
was  an  excellent  bill,  but  the  Mormon  power  in  and  about 
Congress  succeeded  in  trimming  it  of  almost  every  strin- 
gent and  practical  feature  before  it  became  a  law. 

The  law  which  finally  reached  polygamy  and  its  kindred 
crimes,  and  under  which  the  convictions  of  recent  years 
have  been  secured,  is  the  Edmunds  law  (introduced  by 
Senator  Edmunds,  of   Vermont)    of    1882,   and    supple- 


292  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

mented  by  the  Edmunds-Tucker  law  of  1887  (introduced 
by  J.  Randolph  Tucker,  of  ■  Virginia) . 

Although  more  than  one  fourth  of  the  people  of  Utah 
are  non-Mormon  and  loyal,  yet  the  late  laws  of  Congress 
have  accomplished  very  little  comparatively.  There  are 
twelve  thousand  actual  polygamists  in  the  territory 
(besides  three  thousand  more  whose  wives  are  all  either 
dead  or  divorced),  and  since  the  passage  of  the  Edmunds 
law  of  1882  down  to  September  1,  1889,  only  twenty-four 
persons  had  been  convicted  of  polygamy.  The  constant 
deceptions  and  perjury  of  Mormons  have  thus  made  the 
law  against  polygamy  practically  a  dead  letter,  even  with 
the  presence  of  a  large  loyal  population,  and  under  the 
guns  of  Fort  Douglas  and  the  United  States  soldiers. 
This  is  a  foreshadowing  of  what  would  be  the  result  if 
statehood  should  be  given  to  Utah  and  the  Mormons 
installed  into  power  and  practical  independence. 

The  officers  of  the  United  States  courts  finally  found 
that  they  must  rely  for  convictions  chiefly  on  the  testi- 
mony of  non-Mormons,  as  reliable  Mormon  testimon}7 
could  not  be  secured.  As  non-Mormons  do  not  witness 
polygamous  marriages,  it  has  been  found  almost  impossi- 
ble to  convict  any  Mormon  of  polygamy.  But  when  the 
charge  against  polygamists  was  u  unlawful  cohabitation," 
competent  non-Mormon  testimony  could  often  be  secured. 
Hence  it  will  be  seen  that  most  all  prosecutions  in  Utah, 
under  the  Edmunds  law,  are  for  this  crime  instead  of 
polygamy. 

The  total  result  of  the  prosecutions  since  the  passage 
of  the  Edmunds  law  of  1882  is  as  follows  :  — 

Convictions  for  polygamy  to  September  1,  1S89  ....  24 
Convictions  for  unlawful  cohabitation  to  Sept.  1,  1889     .     .909 

Total 933 


TJie  Mormon  Delusion.  293 

Thus  after  seven  years  of  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States  courts,  the  number  of  convictions  for 
polygamy  is  so  small  that  the  law  against  that  crime  is 
practically  inoperative,  while  the  convictions  for  unlawful 
cohabitation  have  reached  only  jive  per  cent   of  the  guilty. 

A  prominent  Mormon  said  that  at  this  rate  "  the 
brethren  will  be  able  to  hold  out  longer  than  the  gov- 
ernment will  be  willing  to  proceed."  Supposing  there 
were  only  three  thousand  polygamists  within  reach  of 
the  law,  the  same  elder  said:  "One  conviction  a  day, 
or  three  hundred  per  year,  is  all  the  courts  can  hope  to 
bring  about,  and  it  will  thus  take  ten  years  to  get  once 
around  ;  and  I  am  willing  to  take  my  turn  in  the  peniten- 
tiary for  six  months  once  every  ten  years  ;  and  if  we  all 
present  a  bold  front,  the  government  will  grow  tired  of 
prosecuting." 

The  fact  should  also  be  stated  here  that  the  report  of 
the  Utah  Commission  says:  "The  names  of  sixty-seven 
men  have  been  reported  to  the  commission  who  have 
entered  into  polygamy  during  the  year  ending  June, 
1887."  But  the  number  of  new  polygamists  is  incom- 
plete, for  the  commission  adds  :  "  The  number  given-  has 
been  reported  by  non-Mormon  registrars,  there  being  no 
instance  in  which  a  name  has  been  reported  by  a  Mormon 
registrar." 

"The  number  of  persons  then  (1880)  living  in  polyg- 
amy was  found,  after  careful  inquiry,  to  be  about  twelve 
thousand,  and  there  were  at  least  three  thousand  *vho  had 
lived  in  polygamy,  but  a  separation  had  been  effected  by 
death  or  otherwise,  making  a  total  of  fifteen  thousand, 
thirty  per  cent,  of  the  adult  Mormon  population,  or  one 
out  of  every  three  and  one-third,  who  had  entered  into 
polygamy." 


294  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

The  United  States  Court  of  Utah  proceeded,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1887,  to  enforce  the  Edmunds-Tucker  law,  pro- 
viding that  a  receiver  should  be  appointed  to  take 
possession  of  so  much  of  the  property  of  the  Mormon 
Church  and  of  the  Perpetual  Emigration  Fund  Company 
as  was  held  by  them  in  violation  of  law. 

As  usual  in  Utah,  the  Mormon  Church  trampled  this 
law  under  its  feet,  and  acquired  property  valued  at  some 
millions  of  dollars.  The  Mormon  legislature  of  the 
territory  made  the  Mormon  Church  a  private  corporation, 
with  powers  most  extraordinary.  Among  these  were : 
the  surrender  of  the  citizens  of  the  territory  to  the 
control  of  the  church,  to  be  judged  and  punished,  even 
capitally,  according  to  church  laics,  and  to  covenants 
entered  into  in  secret ;  trials  and  judgments  and  their 
executions  all  secret  and  discretionary.  No  wonder  that 
an  indignant  Utah  citizen  writes  :  "  It  is  the  most  mon- 
strous thing  in  English  history,  as  the  act  of  a  body 
politic."  Judge  Zane,  in  rendering  the  opinion  of  the 
Supreme  Court  that  this  act  of  incorporation  is  uncon- 
stitutional, says:  "This  is  probably  the  first  time  that 
any  legislature  committed  the  regulation  of  marriage  and 
tithing  to  a  private  corporation.  It  is  safe  to  assume 
that  the  right  to  regulate  such  matters  was  never  before 
attempted  to  be  contracted  away  to  a  church  or  any  other 
body  of  men.  Nor  are  we  aware  that  the  right  to 
regulate  man's  duty  to  his  Maker  was  ever  included  in  a 
contract*  And  finally,  this  charter  provides  that  such 
laws  and  customs  shall  be  founded  in  the  revelations  of 
the  Lord.  This,  too,  probably,  is  the  first  time  that  a 
legislature  expressly  limited  the  rules  and  laws  that 
a  corporation  might  make  by  the  revelations  of  the  Lord, 
and  made  a  grant  thereof  to  any  person,  natural  or 
artificial." 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  295 

When  it  became  known  to  the  Mormons  that  an 
attempt  would  be  made  to  carry  out  this  law,  the  church 
immediately  put  most  of  its  property  out  of  its  hands. 
Vast  amounts  and  many  varieties  of  property  were  trans- 
ferred from  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day 
Saints  to  private  parties  during  the  three  days  prior  to 
the  day  when  the  law  disincorporating  the  Mormon 
Church  went  into  effect,  namely,  March  3,   1887. 

The  receiver  and  the  courts  have  met  the  most  stub- 
born opposition  at  every  step  in  their  efforts  to  enforce 
the  law.  Many  suits  in  court  were  brought  by  the  re- 
ceiver against  parties  who  fradulently  held  the  property 
of  the  church.  Every  device  possible,  except  a  resort  to 
arms,  was  used  to  defeat  the  law.  Most  of  the  lawsuits 
were  finally  compromised  by  the  Mormon  officials  paying 
over  in  cash,  by  order  of  the  Supreme  Court,  on  July  9, 
the  sum  of  $157,666.15.  In  other  cases  the  properties 
themselves  were  delivered  over.  A  summary  of  the 
properties  and  values  turned  over  is  as  follows  :  — 

By  compromise,  July  9 $157,666.15 

Church  farm 150,000.00 

Coal  interests 100,000.00 

Thirty  thousand  sheep 60,000.00 

Notes  for  theatre  stock 27,000.00 

Deseret  Telegraph  stock 22,000.00 

Personal  property  (cattle,  etc.) 75,000.00 

Gas  stock       75,000.00 

Tithing  yard 50,000.00 

Gardo  House 50,000.00 

Historical  office 20,000.00 

Temple  Square  (not  valued) 

Dividends  on  gas  stock 4,000.00 

Total $790,666.15 


296  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

This  is  certainly  a  heavy  blow  at  the  financial  strength 
of  the  Mormon  Church,  but  there  is  much  more  yet  un- 
lawfully held  by  them.  For  the  first  time  in  their  history 
the  Mormons  seem  now  to  be  learning  that  the  United 
States  is  stronger  than  their  church.  This  fact  is  a  more 
powerful  blow  toward  removing  the  scales  from  blinded 
Mormon  eyes  than  most  persons  can  understand. 

What  is  to  become  of  all  this  vast  property  now  in  the 
hands  of  the  United  States?  It  is  to  be  sold,  and  the 
proceeds  to  go  into  the  public  school  fund  of  Utah  Terri- 
tory. Let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  these  schools  are,  in 
nearly  all  cases,  taught  by  Mormons  and  are  wholly  sur- 
rounded by  Mormon  influences.  Unless  Congress  shall 
speedily  follow  this  law  with  another  which  shall  place 
all  the  public  schools  of  Utah  under  the  control  of  the 
United  States,  then  the  enforcement  of  this  law  is  a 
farce.  It  gives  the  Mormons  all  the  benefits  of  the  cry 
of  "persecution,"  and  yet  puts  their  spiritually  unpro- 
ductive assets  just  where  they  will  do  the  most  good 
for  the  Mormon  Church.  At  the  time  these  lines  are 
written  (January,  1890)  the  question  of  the  constitution- 
ality of  this  law  is  pending  before  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States.1  If  the  law  shall  be  sustained, 
then  all  the  proceeds  of  this  property  will  go  directly  to 
strengthen  and  spread  the  teachings  of  Mor monism. 
The  present  law  simply  sells  the  Mormon  temples,  farms, 
bank  stocks,  and  street-car  company  stocks,  etc.,  and 
turns  the  proceeds  over  to  the  Mormon  school  fund,  that 
the  young  Saints  may  be  more  fully  taught  the  Mormon 
faith!  While  the  Saints  publicly  cry  "persecution,"  in 
private  they  laugh  in  their  sleeves,  and  say,  as  their 
delegate  in  Congress,  John  T.  Caine,  did,  upon  his  last 
return  to  Salt  Lake  City  from  Washington:   "Brethren, 

iSee  Addenda,  p.  350. 


TJie  Mormon  Delusion.  297 

you  can  see  that  this  law  had  most  of  its  fangs  pulled 
before  it  was  passed."  Without  delay,  Congress  ought 
to  pass  all  the  laws  needed  to  break  the  civil  power  of 
Mormonism,  and  place  the  schools  under  Gentile  control. 
The  missionary,  with  the  gospel  of  Christ  and  the  higher 
Christian  schools,  may  then  well  be  trusted  to  finish  the 
problem. 

When  the  Edmunds  law  and  its  righteous  interpretation 
by  United  States  Judge  Charles  S.  Zane  began  to  send 
polygamous  criminals  to  the  penitentiary,  Mr.  George  Q. 
Cannon,  who  had  formerly  represented  Utah  Territory  in 
Congress,  fled.  While  being  returned  to  Salt  Lake  City 
in  the  care  of  a  sheriff,  he  leaped  fi  am  the  cars  and  ran. 
A  foot-race  of  one  mile  followed  ;  the  sheriff  won,  and 
brought  his  distinguished  prisoner  to  the  bar  of  the  court. 
Cannon  pleaded  serious  illness  from  an  incurable  disease 
and  was  released  on  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  bail. 
He  then  again  fled  into  hiding,  forfeited  his  bail,  and  it 
was  paid.  Like  most  of  the  Mormon  leaders,  Cannon 
had  acquired  large  wealth. 

Judge  Zane's  firmness  and  impartiality  in  dealing  out 
justice  to  the  hoary  law-breakers  in  Utah  created  great 
consternation  among  the  Mormons.  The  leaders  scat- 
tered into  "underground"  hidings  or  went  on  foreign 
missions  for  the  church.  Judge  Zane's  interpretations  of 
the  law  and  inflexible  honesty  and  fearlessness  had  given 
universal  satisfaction  to  the  loyal  people  of  Utah  and  to 
the  country  at  large.  However,  when  his  commission 
expired,  he  was  not  re-appointed  by  President  Cleveland, 
but  Judge  Sandford  —  comparatively  a  stranger  in  Utah 
—  was  appointed  his  successor.  It  soon  began  to  be 
said  that  Mormon  criminals  were  henceforth  to  be  more 
leniently  dealt  with. 


298  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

A  few  days  after  the  new  judge  had  taken  his  seat, 
George  Q.  Cannon  suddenly  came  forth  (September, 
1888)  from  the  covert  of  Mormon  outlaws,  appeared  in 
court,  and  pleaded  "guilty"  on  two  indictments  which 
seemed  to  have  been  framed  so  as  to  bar  other  indict- 
ments. He  was  sentenced  to  pay  $450  fine  and  to  go  to 
the  penitentiary  for  175  days.  This  light  penalty  to  the 
chief  living  offender  gave  great  offence  and  discourage- 
ment to  the  loyal  citizens  of  Utah. 

"Just  now  the  Gentiles  here  are  feeling  a  little  blue. 
They  feel  that  they  have  been  cheated,  betrayed,  and 
shamelessly  and  shamefully  wronged. 

"  The  action  of  the  new  Chief  Justice  yesterday, 
together  with  the  prior  action  of  finding  an  indictment 
against  George  Q.  Cannon  only  last  Saturday  ;  the  move- 
ment on  foot  which  seems  to  be  to  enable  the  Saints  to 
recover  all  the  ground  they  have  lost,  altogether  dum- 
founded  the  faithful  men  who  have  tried  here  through 
the  years  to  Americanize  this  region.  It  was  manifest 
from  the  moment  Judge  Sandford  charged  the  grand  jury 
and  began  to  issue  naturalization  papers  to  Mormons, 
that  he  either  did  not  understand  the  situation  here  or 
had  come  here  to  inaugurate  a  new  policy.  His  perform- 
ance yesterday  removed  the  last  hope  that  the  friends  of 
Utah  had  clung  to,  that  he  would  prove  himself  a  real 
successor  to  Judge  Zane. 

"  Of  all  men,  George  Q.  Cannon  had  been  most  defiant 
and  most  influential  in  advising  ignorant  men  to  break 
the  laws. 

' '  Utah  men  as  they  met  each  other  would  each  say  : 
'  Sold  out  again.'  Progress  in  Utah  has  been  for  twenty 
years  like  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tide,  and  the  ebb  has 
often  seemed  to  exceed  the  flow.     The  true  men  of  Utah 


TJie  Mormon  Delusion.  299 

felt  last  week  Monday  as  did  those  who  were  left  alive 
in  Lisbon  the  day  succeeding  the  great  earthquake.  The 
beautiful  pier  which  they  had  been  building  for-  years  had 
disappeared,  and  where  it  had  stood  sixty  fathoms  deep 
of  corpse-tainted  water  with  sullen  wash  laved  the  shat- 
tered shore. 

"Is  it  not  pitiable  that  just  about  once  in  so  often 
some  one  comes  here  clothed  in  authority  that  can  not  be 
impeached,  and  takes  it  upon  himself,  before  he  knows 
anything  of  the  situation,  to  slash  ahead  and  undo  the 
work  of  months  or  years,  throw  business  into  confusion, 
unsettle  men's  minds  and  fill  them  with  apprehensions  of 
future  trouble  ?  This  has  happened  periodically  for  twenty 
years  past.  Some  have  been  corrupt ;  some  have  just 
been  fools,  and  others  have  been  burned  up  with  an  ego- 
tism which  has  been  worse  than  either  corruption  or  fool 
stupidity.  And  poor  Utah  has  to  bear  the  burden  and 
the  shame."  l 

The  re-appointment  of  Judge  Zane  by  President  Harri- 
son, in  1889,  to  the  judgeship  in  the  United  States  courts 
in  Utah  is  a  fitting  reward  to  a  fearless  officer  and  a 
source  of  much  encouragement  to  the  loyal  people  of 
Utah. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

THE    UNITED    STATES    COURT    DENIES    CITIZENSHIP    TO 
MORMON    FOREIGNERS. 

A      SEVERE  blow  against  the  future  political  power 

J\      of    the    Mormons    was   given   on   November   30, 

1889,  in  the  Third  District  Court  in  Salt  Lake   City  by 

Judge  Thomas  J.    Anderson,   Associate  Justice    of   the 

!The  Salt  Lake  Daily  Tribune. 


300  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Supreme  Court.  By  this  decision  foreigners  who  are 
Mormons  can  not  become  naturalized  citizens  of  the 
United  States  because  their  allegiance  to  their  church  is 
inconsistent  with  loyalty  to  the  United  States.  Foreign- 
ers who  are  Mormons  will  hereafter  not  be  allowed  to 
vote  in  Utah  unless  they  were  naturalized  before  this 
decision  was  rendered.  The  next  question  which  is 
likely  to  come  before  the  courts  is  whether  Mormons  who 
are  already  naturalized,  or  who  are  natives,  may  not  be 
disfranchised  by  reason  of  their  disloyal  church  attach- 
ments. By  the  new  Constitution  of  Idaho  Territory, 
under  which  she  seeks  (1890)  admission  into  the  Union, 
all  Mormons  are  disfranchised,  but  the  Supreme  Court 
has  yet  to  say  whether  the  mere  fact  of  a  man's  being  a 
member  of  the  Church  of  Latter  Day  Saints  is  in  itself 
lawful  ground  for  denying  him  the  right  of  suffrage. 

The  decision  of  Judge  Anderson  will  only  prevent  the 
voting  of  unnaturalized  foreigners,  and  will  weaken  the 
political  power  of  the  Mormons  only  in  a  small  degree. 
If,  however,  all  Mormons  could  legally  be  disfranchised, 
it  would  shear  off  Mormon  power  from  our  body  politic 
and  hurl  Mormonism  over  the  precipice  of  its  final  doom. 
The  Mormons  were  much  alarmed  at  the  decision  of  the 
court.  The  Standard,  a  Mormon  daily  paper  of  Ogclen, 
said,  December  1,  1889  :  — 

"  Until  overturned  by  the  action  of  a  higher  tribunal 
the  decision  will  doubtless  act  as  a  bar  to  the  admission 
to  citizenship  of  aliens  professing  belief  in  Mormonism. 
It  has  a  tremendous  scope,  and  the  responsibility  taken 
by  the  court  is  one  so  appalling  that  it  can  not  long 
remain  unquestioned." 

The  uniform  history  of  the  Mormons  is  such  as  to 
justify  the  expectation  that  this  decision  will  be  practi- 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  301 

cally  nullified  by  the  Mormons  hereafter  by  aliens 
abstaining  from  a  formal  joining  of  the  Mormon  Church 
until  after  they  have  been  naturalized.  It  may  be  ex- 
pected that  they  will  on  one  day  deny  under  oath  that 
they  believe  in  the  allegiance  required  by  the  Mormon 
Church,  and  the  next  day  after  receiving  their  natural- 
ization papers  readily  take  the  disloyal  oaths  of  the 
Endowment  House. 

The  following  are  quotations  from  this  important  de- 
cision by  Judge  Anderson,  which  does  him  enduring 
honor : — 

"  Objection  was  made  to  the  admission  of  John  Moore 
and  William  J.  Edgar  upon  the  ground  that  they  were 
members  of  the  Mormon  Church,  and  also  because  they 
had  gone  through  the  Endowment  House  of  this  church, 
and  there  had  taken  an  oath  or  obligation  incompatible 
with  the  oath  of  citizenship  they  would  be  required  to 
take  if  admitted.  The  admission  of  the  other  applicants 
was  objected  to  solely  on  the  ground  that  by  their  own 
statements  they  were  members  of  the  Mormon  Church, 
although  they  had  gone  through  the  Endowment  House, 
and  had  not  taken  the  oath  usually  administered  there, 
nor,  in  fact,  any  other  incompatible  with  citizenship. 

"The  claim  is  made  by  those  who  object  to  the  admis- 
sion to  citizenship  of  these  persons,  that  the  Mormon 
Church  is,  and  always  has  been,  a  treasonable  organization 
in  its  teachings  and  its  practices,  hostile  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  disobedient  to  its  laws  and 
seeking  its  overthrow,  and  that  the  oath  administered  to 
its  members  in  the  Endowment  House  binds  them,  under 
penalty  of  death,  to  implicit  obedience  in  all  things,  tem- 
poral as  well  as  spiritual,  to  the  priesthood,  and  to  avenge 
the  death  of  the  prophets  Joseph  and  Hyrum  Smith  upon 


302  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

the  government  and  people  of  the  United  States.  .  .  . 
Those  objecting  to  the  right  of  these  applicants  to  be 
admitted  to  citizenship  introduced  eleven  witnesses, 
who  had  been  members  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter  Day  Saints,  commonly  called  the  Mormon 
Church.  Several  of  these  witnesses  had  held  the  posi- 
tion of  bishop  in  the  church,  and  all  had  gone  through 
the  Endowment  House  and  participated  in  its  ceremonies. 
The  testimony  of  these  witnesses  is  to  the  effect  that 
every  member  of  the  church  is  expected  to  go  through  the 
Endowment  House,  and  that  nearly  all  do  so ;  that  mar- 
riages are  usually  solemnized  there,  and  that  those  who 
are  married  elsewhere  go  through  the  endowment  cere- 
monies at  as  early  a  date  thereafter  as  practicable,  in 
order  that  the  marital  relation  shall  continue  throughout 
eternity.  That  these  ceremonies  occupy  the  greater  part 
of  a  day,  and  include  the  taking  of  an  oath,  obliga- 
tion, or  covenant  by  all  who  receive  their  endowments, 
that  they  will  avenge  the  blood  of  the  prophets  Joseph 
and  Hyrum  Smith  upon  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  and  will  enjoin  this  obligation  upon  their  children 
unto  the  third  and  fourth  generations,  and  they  will  obey 
the  priesthood  in  all  things,  and  will  never  reveal  the 
secrets  of  the  Endowment  House  under  the  penalty  of 
having  their  throats  cut  from  ear  to  ear,  their  bowels 
torn  out,  and  their  hearts  cut  out  of  their  bodies.  The 
right  arm  is  anointed  that  it  may  be  strong  to  avenge 
the  blood  of  the  prophets.  An  undergarment,  a  sort 
of  combination  of  shirt  ajid  drawers,  called  the  endow- 
ment robe,  is  then  put  on  and  is  to  be  worn  ever  after. 
On  this  robe,  near  the  throat  and  over  the  heart,  and  in 
the  region  of  the  abdomen  are  certain  marks  or  designs 
intended  to  remind  the  wearer  of  the  penalties  that  will 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  303 

be  inflicted  in  case  of  a  violation  of  the  oath,  obligation, 
or  covenant  he  or  she  has  taken  or  made.  .  .  .  The 
evidence  establishes  beyond  any  reasonable  doubt  that  the 
endowment  ceremonies  are  inconsistent  with  the  oath  an 
applicant  for  citizenship  is  required  to  take,  and  that  the 
oaths,  obligations,  or  covenants  there  made  or  entered  into 
are  incompatible  with  the  obligations  and  duties  of  citizens 
of  the  United  States.  The  application  of  John  Moore 
and  Walter  J.  Edgar,  both  of  whom  were  shown  on  the 
former  examination  to  be  members  of  the  Mormon 
Church  and  to  have  gone  through  the  Endowment  House, 
are  therefore  denied. 

"As  to  the  objection  made  to  the  admission  of  the 
other  applicants  upon  the  ground  solely  of  their  being 
members  of  the  Mormon  Church,  a  large  amount  of 
evidence,  mostly  documentary,  has  been  introduced. 
.  .  .  Evidence  was  also  introduced  showing  that  the 
bishops'  courts  of  the  church  exercise  judicial  functions 
to  the  extent  of  rendering  judgments  and  annulling  or 
modifying  judgments  rendered  by  the  civil  courts.  .  .  . 
I  think  there  can  be  no  question  but  that  the  church 
claims  and  exercises  the  right  to  control  its  members  in 
temporal  as  well  as  spiritual  affairs." 

"Among  the  prophecies  of  Joseph  Smith  it  is  said: 
'And  now  I  say  unto  you,  as  pertaining  to  my  board- 
ing-house which  I  have  commanded  you  to  build  for  the 
boarding  of  strangers.  Let  it  be  built  unto  my  name. 
And  now  let  the  name  of  that  house  be  called  Nauvoo 
House.  And  they  shall  form  a  constitution  whereby 
they  may  receive  stock  for  the  building  of  that  house. 
And  they  shall  not  receive  less  than  fifty  dollars  for  a 
share  of  stock  in  that  house,  and  they  shall  not  be  per- 
mitted to  receive  over  fifteen  thousand  dollars  stock  from 


304  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

any  one  man  ;  and  they  shall  not  be  permitted  to  receive 
any  man  as  a  stockholder  in  this  house,  except  the  same 
shall  pay  his  stock  into  their  hands  at  the  time  he  receives 
stock.' l 

"'And  again  I  say  unto  you,  that  my  servant  Isaac 
Morley  may  not  be  tempted  above  that  which  he  is  able 
to  bear,  and  counsel  wrongfully  to  your  hurt,  I  gave 
command  that  his  farm  should  be  sold.'2 

"'And  it  is  not  meet  that  my  servants,  Newel  K. 
Whitney  and  Sidney  Gilbert,  should  sell  their  stores  and 
their  possessions  here,  for  this  is  not  wisdom.'-3 

"  Brigham  Young  said  in  the  tabernacle  :  'You  may  say 
it  is  hard  that  I  should  dictate  to  you  in  your  temporal 
affairs.  Is  it  not  my  privilege  to  dictate  to  you?'  Elder 
Wilford  Woodruff  said  :  '  Our  president  (Brigham)  has 
frequently  told  us  that  we  shall  not  separate  the  temporal 
from  the  spiritual,  but  they  must  go  hand  in  hand  together. 
And  so  it  is.' 4 

' '  Referring  to  the  right  of  the  church  to  shed  the  blood 
of  those  who  apostatized,  Brigham  Young,  in  an  address 
delivered  in  the  tabernacle,  related  a  dream  in  which  he 
met  some  apostates,  and  said  :  — 

"  '  With  that  I  took  my  large  bowie-knife,  that  I  used 
to  wear  as  a  bosom-pin  at  Nauvoo,  and  cut  one  of  their 
throats  from  ear  to  ear,  saying,  "  Go  to  hell  across  lots." 
The  other  one  said  :  "  You  dare  not  serve  me  so."  I  in- 
stantly sprang  at  him,  seized  him  by  the  hair  of  the  head, 
and,  bringing  him  down,  sent  him  after  his  comrade.  I 
then  told  them  both  if  they  would  behave  themselves  they 
should  yet  live,  but  if  they  did  not  I  would  unjoint  their 
necks.     At   this   I    awoke.     I  say  rather  than  that  the 

1  Doctrines  and  Covenants,  p.  436.  2  Ibid.  p.  241.  3Ibid.  p.  242. 

4  Journals  and  Discourses,  vol.  vi,  p.  325. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  305 

apostates  should  flourish  here,  I  will  uusheathe  my  bowie- 
kuife  and  conquer  or  die.  [Great  commotion  in  the  con- 
gregation, and  a  simultaneous  burst  of  feeling  assenting 
to  the  declaration.]  Now,  you  nasty  apostates,  clear 
out,  or  judgment  will  be  put  to  the  line  and  righteousness 
to  the  plummet.  [Voices  generally,  "  Go  it !  Go  it !  "] 
If  you  say  it  is  right,  raise  your  hands.  [All  hands  up.] 
Let  us  call  upon  the  Lord  to  assist  us  in  this  and  every 
good  work.'  "  1 

Judge  Anderson  continues  :  — 

"  The  evidence  also  shows  that  blood  atonement  is  one 
of  the  doctrines  of  the  church  under  which,  for  certain 
offences,  the  offender  shall  suffer  death  as  the  only  means 
of  atoning  for  his  transgressions,  and  that  any  member 
of  the  church  has  the  right  to  shed  his  blood.   .   .   . 

"  An  effort  was  made  to  show  that  the  blood  atonement, 
as  preached  by  Brigham  Young  and  Jedediah  Grant,  is 
not  now  the  doctrine  of  the  church,  and  a  pamphlet  con- 
taining an  address  on  this  subject  by  Elder  Charles  W. 
Penrose,  in  October,  1884,  was  offered  in  evidence  ;  but 
in  this  pamphlet  Mr,  Penrose  sustains  the  doctrine  of 
blood  atonement  as  preached  by  Brigham  Young  and 
President  Grant.  He  says :  '  And  yet  there  are  sins 
which  men  commit  for  which  they  can  not  receive  any 
benefit  through  the  shedding  of  Christ's  blood.  Is  that  a 
true  doctrine?  It  is  true,  if  the  Bible  is  true.  That  is 
Bible  doctrine.'   .   .   . 

"  '  Do  we  need  the  same  language  now?  I  hope  not ; 
but  if  there  was  any  need  for  it,  it  would  be  just  as  appli- 
cable now  as  then.' 

"And  again,  on  page  43,  he  uses  the  following 
language :  '  After  baptized  persons  have  made  sacred 
1  Journals  and  Discourses,  vol.  i,  p.  81. 


306  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

covenants  with  God  and  then  commit  deadly  sins,  the 
only  atonement  they  can  make  is  the  shedding  of  their 
blood.  At  the  same  time,  because  of  the  laws  of  the  land 
and  the  prejudice  of  the  nation,  and  the  ignorance  of  the 
world,  this  lam  can  not  be  carried  out,  but  when  the  time 
comes  that  the  law  of  God  shall  be  in  full  force  upon  the 
earth,  then  this  penalty  will  be  inflicted  for  those  crimes 
committed  by  persons  under  covenant  not  to  commit 
them.'  .   .    . 

"As  to  the  feeling  of  the  members  of  the  Mormon 
Church  toward  the  government  of  the  United  States,  the 
evidence  discloses  a  condition  of  things  greatly  to  be 
deplored.   .   .   . 

"  Whether  such  language  as  the  above  instigated  the 
Mountain  Meadows  Massacre,  or  whether  that  horrible 
butchery  was  done  by  direct  command  of  Brigham  Young, 
will  probably  never  be  known.   .   .   . 

"Counsel  for  applicants,  however,  contend  that  the 
feelings  of  the  people  of  the  Mormon  Church  towards  the 
government  have  undergone  a  change,  and  that  in  latter 
years  the  former  feeling  of  hostility  has  disappeared  or 
become  greatly  modified.  The  evidence,  however,  does 
not  sustain  this  claim.  In  January,  1877,  at  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  St.  George  Temple,  Wilford  Woodruff,  who  is 
now  president  of  the  church,  prayed  for  the  destruction 
of  %the  government.   .    .   . 

"  In  May,  1879,  one  Miles  was  on  trial  in  this  court 
for  polygamy.  Daniel  H.  Wells,  one  of  the  presidents  of 
the  church,  was  duly  called  as  a  witness,  and  on  refusing 
to  answer  a  question  propounded  to  him  concerning  the 
records  of  marriages  in  the  Endowment  House,  was  com- 
mitted to  prison  for  contempt  of  court.  On  being 
released,  a  procession,  variously  estimated   by  the  wit- 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  307 

nesses  at  from  two  thousand  to  ten  thousand  Mormon 
people,  headed  by  the  city  council  and  fire  department, 
escorted  him  from  the  prison  through  the  streets  of  the 
city  to  the  tabernacle,  where  a  meeting  of  eight  thousand 
or  ten  thousand  people  was  held,  and  speeches  were  made 
endorsing  his  conduct.  As  the  procession  moved  up 
Main  Street,  the  American  flag  was  dragged  in  the  dust, 
and  a  large  banner  was  carried  by  little  girls  on  which 
were  inscribed  the  words,  '  We  will  uphold  polygamy.' 
As  the  procession  passed  the  building  where  the  district 
court  was  being  held,  the  people  gave  vent  to  their  feel- 
ings by  hooting  and  jeering  and  hissing.  At  the  meeting 
in  the  tabernacle,  banners  were  numerous,  on  which  were 
inscribed  such  sentiments  as  the  following  :  — 

"  '  Better  the  penitentiary  for  faithfulness  in  this  world 
than  the  "  prison-house"  for  perjury  in  the  next.'  '  The 
women  of  Utah  uphold  polygamy.' 

"On  the  Fourth  of  July,  1885,  the  flags  were  displayed 
at  half-mast  by  the  Mormons  in  this  city  at  the  city  hall, 
at  the  county  court-house,  at  the  office  of  The  Deseret 
News,  at  the  G-ardo  House,  at  the  Mormon  cooperative 
store  building,  and  other  places.  Counsel  for  applicants 
claim  that  this  demonstration  was  not  intended  as  an 
insult  to  the  government  nor  to  its  flag,  but  as  a  sign 
of  mourning  because  of  the  unjust  laws  against  polyg- 
amy, and  the  acts  of  the  officers  of  the  government  in 
enforcing  them.  But  the  evidence  fails  to  show  that 
crape  or  any  other  emblem  of  sorrow  was  displayed  in 
any  manner,  and  there  can  be  no  question  but  that  the 
half-masting  of  the  flags  was  intended  to  be,  as  it  is 
understood  by  those  who  witnessed  it,  an  insult  to  the 
national  authority. 

"  The  evidence  shows  that  the  church  has,  in  the  most 


308  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

determined  manner  and  with  all  the  means  at  its  com- 
mand, opposed  the  enforcement  of  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  against  polygamy  and  unlawful  cohabitation,  while 
polygamy  has  been  constantly  preached  as  a  cardinal  doc- 
trine of  the  church.  .  .  .  When  men  have  been  convicted 
for  violating  these  laws,  and  the  Court  has  offered  to 
suspend  sentence  or  inflict  a  light  penalty  if  the  offenders 
would  promise  to  obey  the  laws  in  the  future,  they  have 
almost  invariably  refused  to  make  any  promise  whatever. 
It  has  been  a  common  custom  among  the  Mormon  people, 
ever  since  the  enforcement  of  these  laws  began,  when 
one  of  their  number  has  been  convicted  and  sentenced 
to  imprisonment  for  violating  the  law,  to  give  him  a 
reception  on  his  return  home  and  honor  him  in  every 
way  possible,  while  those  who  have  promised  obedience 
to  the  laws  have  been  ostracized  and  held  up  to  the  public 
execration  and  scorn.  To  suffer  fine  and  imprisonment 
for  violating  the  law,  or  for  'living  his  religion,'  as  they 
usually  term  it,  is  deemed  by  them  as  worthy  of  all 
praise,  and  will,  as  their  leaders  teach,  result  in  the 
exaltation  in  the  life  to  come  of  him  who  thus  proves 
the  sincerity  of  his  faith. 

"It  is  claimed  by  counsel  for  applicants,  and  some 
evidence  was  introduced  tending  to  show  that  in  the 
Doctrine  and  Covenants  and  other  church  publications 
obedience  to  the  laws  of  the  land  is  taught,  and  also 
that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  an  inspired 
instrument ;  but  the  evidence  discloses  that  the  reason 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  considered  an 
inspired  instrument  is  that  it  is  construed  by  Mormons 
to  prohibit  the  passing  of  any  law  against  polygamy, 
and  all  such  laws  are  considered  by  them  as  in  violation 
of  the  Constitution.     As  to  their  teaching  obedience  to 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  309 

the  laws  of  the  land,  it  is  only  taught  in  general  terms. 
During  the  ten  days  this  investigation  lasted,  not  a  word 
of  evidence  was  introduced  or  offered  showing  that  any 
preacher  or  teacher  of  the  church  ever,  in  a  single 
instance,  advised  obedience  to  the  laws  against  polyg- 
amy. On  the  contrary,  the  evidence  in  this  case  and 
the  whole  history  of  the  Mormon  Church  in  Utah  shows 
that  it  lias  persistently  refused  obedience  to  at  least  a 
portion  of  the  laws  of  the  government,  has  insulted 
and  driven  United  States  officers  from  the  territory,  has 
denied  the  authority  of  the  United  States  to  pass  laws 
prohibiting  polygamy  as  an  unwarranted  interference 
with  their  religion,  and  generally  has  antagonized  and 
denounced  the  government  in  almost  every  possible  way. 
Undoubtedly  there  are  many  members  of  this  church  who 
feel  friendly  to  the  government,  and  would  gladly  break 
the  shackles  that  biud  them  to  the  Mormon  priesthood  if 
they  felt  that  they  dare  do  so  ;  but  with  an  organization 
the  most  thorough  that  can  be  imagined,  which  can  be 
wielded  against  them,  they  remain  in  the  church  rather 
than  take  the  risk  of  financial  ruin  and  social  ostracism. 

"  The  Mormon  Church  teaches,  first,  That  it  is  the 
actual  and  veritable  kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  not  in  its 
fullness,  because  Christ  has  not  yet  come  to  rule  in  per- 
son, but  for  the  present  he  rules  through  the  priesthood 
of  the  church,  who  are  his  vicegerents  on  earth. 

"  Second,  That  this  kingdom  is  both  a  temporal  and 
spiritual  kingdom,  and  should  rightfully  control  and  is 
entitled  to  the  highest  allegiance  of  men  in  all  their 
affairs. 

"Third,  That  this  kingdom  will  overthrow  the  United 
States  and  all  other  governments,  after  which  Christ  will 
reign  in  person. 


310  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

"Fourth,  That  the  doctrine  of  'blood  atonement'  is 
of  God,  and  that  under  it  certain  sins  which  the  blood 
of  Christ  can  not  atone  for  may  be  remitted  by  shedding 
the  blood  of  the  transgressor. 

"  Fifth,  That  polygamy  is  a  command  of  God  which  if 
a  member  obeys  he  will  be  exalted  in  the  future  life 
above  those  who  do  not. 

"  Sixth,  That  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has 
no  right  under  the  Constitution  to  pass  any  law  in  any 
manner  interfering  with  the  practices  of  the  Mormon 
religion,  and  that  the  Acts  of  Congress  against  polygamy 
and  disfranchising  those  who  practice  it  are  unwarrant- 
able interferences  with  their  religion. 

"Can  men  be  made  true  and  loyal  citizens  by  such 
teachings,  or  are  the}T  likely  to  remain  so,  surrounded  by 
such  influences  ?  Will  men  become  attached  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  when  they 
hear  the  government  constantly  denounced  as  tyrannical 
and  oppressive  ?  It  would  be  as  unreasonable  to  expect 
such  a  result  as  it  would  be  to  expect  to  gather  grapes 
from  thorns,  or  figs  from  thistles. 

"It  has  always  been,  and  still  is,  the  policy  of  this 
government  to  encourage  aliens  who,  in  good  faith,  come 
to  reside  in  this  country,  to  become  citizens  ;  but  when  a 
man  of  foreign  birth  comes  here  and  joins  an  organiza- 
tion, though  professedly  religious,  which  requires  of  him 
an  allegiance  paramount  to  his  allegiance  to  the  govern- 
ment, an  organization  that  impiously  and  blasphemously 
claims  to  be  the  kingdom  of  God,  to  control  its  members 
under  his  immediate  direction,  and  yet  teaches  and 
practices  a  system  of  morals  shocking  to  Christian 
people  everywhere,  and  under  which  the  marriage  of  a 
man  to  two  or  more  sisters,  or  to  a  mother  and  daughter, 


The  Mormon  Pelusion.  311 

is  sanctioned,  an  organization  that  sanctions  blood  atone- 
ment as  a  means  of  grace,  and  murder  as  a  penalty  for 
revealing  the  secrets  of  its  ceremonies,  and  which,  for 
more  than  half  a  century,  has  refused  to  acknowledge  the 
supremacy  of  the  United  States  or  render  obedience  to 
its  laws,  it  is  time  for  the  courts  to  pause  and  inquire 
whether  such  applicant  should  be  admitted  to  citizenship. 

"The  evidence  in  this  case  establishes  unquestionably 
that  the  teachings,  practices,  and  aims  of  the  Mormon 
Church  are  antagonistic  to  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  utterly  subversive  of  good  morals  and  the  well- 
being  of  society,  and  that  its  members  are  animated  by 
a  feeling  of  hostility  towards  the  government  and  its 
laws,  and  therefore  an  alien  who  is  a  member  of  said 
church  is  not  a  fit  person  to  be  made  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States. 

"  The  applications  of  Fred  W.  Miller  et  aZ.,  to  become 
citizens,  are  therefore  denied. 

"  (Signed)  Thomas  J.  Anderson, 

"Associate  Justice  Supreme  Court  and  Acting  Judge  Third  Judicial  District." 

According  to  their  usual  mendacity  the  Mormons 
"promptly  denied  the  points  made  against  them  in  Judge 
Anderson's  decision. 

"  Wilfred  Woodruff,  George  Q.  Cannon,  and  Joseph 
F.  Smith,  apostles  of  the  Mormon  Church,  have  issued 
another  manifesto  unqualifiedly  denying  all  charges  made 
against  the  church  in  the  recent  hearing  before  Judge 
Anderson. 

"  So  far  as  any  doctrine  or  teaching  of  the  church 
being  hostile  to  the  United  States  government,  members 
of  the  church  are  under  divine  command  to  revere 
the    Constitution  as  a   heaven-inspired    instrument,    and 


312  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

obey  as  supreme  all  laws  made  in  pursuance  of  its 
provisions."  l 

The  thin  veil  behind  which  this  denial  hides  is  that  the 
Mormons  claim  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  gives  them  liberty  to  practice  polygamy,  and  that 
laws  against  it  are  not  "made  in  pursuance"  of  the 
Constitution. 

"  These  revelations  only  make  more  certain  what  has 
long  been  believed,  that  the  Mormon  Church,  root  and 
branch,  would,  if  left  to  itself,  drain  out  the  very  life  of 
the  Republic.  How  much  longer  shall  it  have  any  foot- 
hold upon  American  soil  ?  "  2 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

SHALL    UTAH    BECOME    A    STATE? 

SHOULD    Utah  be  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  state 
while  under  the  political  control  of  the  Mormons  ? 
Never !     Because  :  — 

1.  The  Mormons  are  not  loyal  to  the  United  States. 

2.  Utah's  shameful  moral  condition  makes  her  utterly 
unfit  to  be  received  into  the  family  circle  of  states.  The 
states  already  in  the  Union  are  not  bound  to  receive  such 
a  stream  of  immorality  into  intimate  relations,  nor  to 
share  state  privileges  with  a  heathenish  and  disloyal 
hierarchy. 

3.  As  a  state  Utah  would  be  independent  of  the 
United  States  in  most  state  matters,  and    could    go   on 

1  Associated  Press  despatch  from  Salt  Lake  City,  December  13,  1889. 

2  The  Congregatioualist,  Boston. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  313 

perpetuating  the  rule  of  the  Mormon  priesthood  and  con- 
tinue the  prevailing  peculiar  and  vicious  social  relations, 
while  the  other  states  would  be  powerless  to  interfere. 

4.  While  Utah  remains  in  a  territorial  condition,  the 
United  States  can,  to  some  extent,  control  the  legislation 
for  the  territory  and  enforce  obedience  to  the  laws. 

Let  Utah  remain  a  territory  until  a  clear  majority  of 
her  citizens  are  thoroughly  loyal  and  are  not  upholding  a 
social  system  which  is  a  disgrace  to  the  human  race. 

The  Mormon  problem  is  one  which  is  very  difficult  to 
deal  with  in  all  its  phases  because  of  the  great  power  of 
the  Mormon  Church.  The  sources  of  this  power  are 
its  organization,  its  missionary  methods,  and  its  financial 
system.  To  these  may  be  added,  in  Utah,  its  isolation 
and  protection  by  mountains.  Its  civil,  religious,  and 
military  power  have  constantly  been  under-estimated.  It 
is  church  and  state,  both  in  one,  and  the  most  compact 
organization  in  the  world.  All  its  power  operates  as  a 
unit.  At  this  point  it  has  so  far  been  unconquerable.  The 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  Mormons  in  Utah  are  an 
absolute  unit  in  all  matters,  civil  or  religious.  They  are 
a  unit  in  belief  ;  a  unit  in  sustaining  polygamy  ;  a  unit  in 
disobeying  and  obstructing  the  execution  of  the  laws  of 
Congress ;  a  unit  in  obeying  the  priesthood ;  a  unit  in 
voting  the  ticket  nominated  by  the  priesthood ;  a  unit  in 
hating  all  mankind,  and  especially  the  people  of  the 
United  States ;  and  a  unit  in  falsifying,  fighting,  or 
suffering  for  their  "religion."  Among  Mormons  there 
are  no  discussions  in  religion  or  politics,  no  opinions,  no 
variety  of  view,  but  only  iron-clad  obedience.  The  ballot- 
box  is  a  farce. 

At  the  elections  in  1889,  a  very  few  Mormons  —  per- 
haps one  hundred  and  forty  —  had   the  courage  to  vote 


314  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

against  the  desire  of  the  church.  There  is  one  ray  of 
hope  in  this  fact. 

It  is  no  easy  task  to  confront  and  defeat,  or  even  to 
frustrate,  the  designs  of  such  a  united  power,  and  espe- 
cially one  that  is  so  utterly  unscrupulous  in  its  methods. 
At  every  period  of  her  history  the  Mormon  Church  has 
not  hesitated,  in  order  to  accomplish  her  purposes,  to 
resort  to  deception,  falsehood,  perjury,  open  murder, 
midnight  assassination,  treason,  or  war. 

Five  times  the  Mormons  have  sought  to  get  Utah 
admitted  as  a  state.  The  independence  of  statehood  is 
a  boon  they  have  long  sought  after. 

The  Mormon  scheme  to  secure  statehood  in  1887-88 
possessed  very  peculiar  features.  Despairing  of  success 
in  getting  Utah  into  the  Union  until  the  people  of  the 
United  States  could  be  led  to  believe  that  they  had 
abandoned  polygamy,  they  adopted,  through  the  aid  of 
eastern   attorneys,   the  following  deceptive    program  :  — 

That  there  should  be  in  Utah  a  cessation  of  disloyal 
speeches  and  hostility  to  the  execution  of  the  laws  while 
the  question  of  statehood  should  be  pending  in  Congress. 

That  it  should  be  generally  published  that  the  Mormons 
were  becoming  better  people,  and  that  the  young  Mor- 
mons were  opposed  to  polygamy.  Simultaneously  there 
began  to  appear  in  all  parts  of  the  country  newspaper 
articles,  professedly  from  Utah,  saying  that  Utah  morals 
were  much  improved  and  that  the  young  Mormons  had 
taken  control  of  affairs  there,  and  that  a  better  day  had 
dawned  for  that  territory. 

That  a  territorial  convention  should  adopt  a  con- 
stitution containing  a  clause  professedly  prohibiting 
polygamy. 

That  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  315 

States  should  be  proposed  in  Congress  prohibiting  polyg- 
amy. 

This  program  the  Mormons  proceeded  to  carry  out  in 
every  detail.  Its  failure  to  deceive  Congress  and  the 
country  was  probably  the  most  bitter  disappointment 
that  has  yet  overtaken  them. 

That  all  the  leading  features  of  this  scheme  were 
deceptive  will  appear  from  the  following  facts :  — 

They  professed  to  abolish  polygamy  in  their  proposed 
constitution  in  the  following  provision:  "Section  12. 
Bigamy  and  polygamy,  being  considered  incompatible 
with  '  a  republican  form  of  government,'  each  of  them 
is  hereby  forbidden  and  declared  a  misdemeanor." 

The  professed  abandonment  of  polygamy  was  a  mere 
political  trick.  The  Mormons  were  utterly  insincere. 
Had  Utah  been  admitted  into  the  Union  with  this  clause 
in  her  constitution,  it  would  have  been  wholly  inoperative 
in  fact  as  against  polygamy,  but  would  have  shielded, 
strengthened,  and  perpetuated  it. 

So  suddenly  was  this  game  for  admission  as  a  state 
begun  that  the  call  for  delegates  to  a  constitutional  con- 
vention was  issued  June  16,  1887,  the  delegates  chosen 
June  25,  and  the  convention  assembled  June  30,  all 
within  fourteen  days,  without  the  least  foregoing  sugges- 
tion or  discussion  of  so  important  a  matter.  The  non- 
Mormons  saw  the  trick  and  abstained  from  the  whole 
proceeding,  and  were  a  unit  against  the  admission  of 
the  territory  into  the  Union.  The  whole  scheme  was 
rapidly  carried  through  by  the  peremptory  edict  of  the 
Mormon  priesthood. 

' k  Up  to  the  close  of  the  day  which  preceded  the 
adoption  of  the  proposed  constitution  there  had  not  been 
given   the    slightest    evidence    in    the    press,    the    pulpit 


316  Tlie  Mormon  Delusion. 

(which  is  supreme  with  the  Mormon  people),  or  by  any 
act  of  the  Mormon  people,  that  any  one  had  changed  his 
views  or  intentions  with  respect  to  polygamy  and  its 
practice."  l 

The  Mormons  have  not  shown  in  any  other  respect  the 
least  disposition  to  really  abandon  polygamy.  They  still 
hold  it  as  a  part  of  their  religion,  denounce  its  punish- 
ment as  persecution,  and,  as  a  solid  unit,  seek  by  decep- 
tion and  perjury  to  defeat  the  execution  of  the  law 
against  it ;  they  brand  as  traitors  those  who  promise 
the  court  to  obey  the  law  in  the  future  ;  those  who  are 
on  trial  prefer  the  penitentiary  to  even  a  professed 
abandonment  of  polygamy  ;  and  those  who  come  from 
the  penitentiary  after  serving  out  their  sentences  for 
polygamy  are  given  public  receptions  as  heroes  and 
martyrs.  All  Mormons,  whether  polygamists  or  not, 
are  a  unit  in  thus  deceiving,  falsifying,  or  suffering  in 
defence  of  polygamy.  If  they  are  ready  to  abandon 
polygamy,  why  do  they  not  openly  say  so  and  do  so? 

Notice  that  in  the  above-quoted  section  they  do  not  say 
that  polygamy  is  ''incompatible  with  a  republican  form 
of  government,"  or  with  good  morals,  or  with  their  belief, 
but  "being  considered"  (that  is,  by  others)  "incom- 
patible," etc.  Between  the  lines  it  clearly  reads  thus  : 
"  Whereas  Utah  can  not  be  admitted  into  the  Union 
without  a  professed  renouncement  of  polygamy,  there- 
fore we  profess  to  renounce." 

It  is  evident  that  if  Utah  were  admitted  while  under 
the  control  of  the  Mormons  with  this  constitution,  polyg- 
amy would  then  henceforth  exist  in  Utah  "only  in  fact 
and  not  in  name."1* 

But  we  are  not  left  to  any  inference  or  argument  on 

1  Report  of  the  Utah  Commission  for  1888.  2  Mark  Twain. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  317 

this  point.  The  Deseret  News,  the  official  Mormon  organ 
at  Salt  Lake  City,  a  few  clays  after  the  adoption  of  the 
above  section,  on  August  2,  1887,  said  :  — 

"  We  wish  it  to  be  understood  that  neither  The  Deseret 
JSfeivs  nor  the  constitutional  convention  has  affirmed  that 
'  polygamy  is  incompatible  with  a  republican  or  any  other 
form  of  government.'  It  is  stated  in  the  constitution 
that  is  so  '  considered.7  We  have  never  admitted,  in  all 
the  controversy  of  years  on  this  question,  that  polygamy 
was  'incompatible  with  a  republican  form  of  government.' 
The  conceit  was  not  ours." 

In  an  address  to  polygamous  Mormons,  President  John 
Taylor  himself,  before  his  death,  said  :  — 

"  We  will  stand  by  our  covenants,  and  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  will  bear  us  out  in  it.  Among  other 
things,  that  instrument  says  that  '  Congress  shall  make 
no  law  impairing  the  validity  of  contracts.'  You  have 
contracted  to  be  united  with  your  wives  in  time  and  in 
eternity,  and  it  would  not  do  for  us  to  break  a  constitu- 
tional law.     Others  may  do  it,  but  we  can  not." 

All  Mormons  were  a  unit  in  this  matter.  "While  all 
Mormons  did  not  enter  into  polygamy,  all  believed  it 
right  as  a  divine  revelation,  and  upheld  it  in  those  who 
chose  to  enter  into  the  relation.  .  .  .  The  entire  mem- 
bership  have  been  a  unit  in  aiding  and  abetting  the 
offenders  in  their  obstructive  course,  and  in  escaping  the 
penalty  of  their  crimes."  1 

A  hint  of  what  the  Mormons  would  do  if  Utah  were 
a  state  under  their  control  can  be  got  from  their  action 
in  Ogden  in  1889  after  that  city  elected  an  anti-Mormon 
justice  of  the  peace.  Three  days  afterward  the  Mormon 
county  court  abolished  that  justice's  district,  created  four 

1  Report  of  the  Utah  Commission  for  1887. 


318  Tlte  Mormon  Delusion. 

new  ones,  and  appointed  four  Mormon  justices.  The 
probate  judge  of  Beaver  County,  Utah,  has  always  been 
a  Mormon,  and  had  a  salary  of  two  hundred  dollars  a 
year  allowed  by  the  county  court. 

"  Congress  having  lately  by  law  provided  for  the 
appointment  of  the  probate  judges  by  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  President  having  appointed 
a  non-Mormon  as  probate  judge  for  Beaver  County, 
immediately  after  his  appointment  the  Mormon  county 
court  met  and  reduced  his  salary  to  jive  dollars  per 
annum."  l 

The  abiding  conviction  and  determination  of  the  Mor- 
mons were  expressed  at  a  general  conference  of  their 
church  in  1885,  at  which  they  declared:  "One  of  the 
doctrines  so  revealed  [that  is,  from  God]  is  plural  mar- 
riage. This  is  a  vital  part  of  our  religion,  the  decision 
of  the  courts  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding." 

As  to  any  supposed  change  of  mind  among  the  Mor- 
mons, or  any  different  view  among  young  Mormons,  the 
report  of  the  Utah  Commission  (October,  1887)  says : 
"The  [Mormon]  people  are  very  tenacious  of  what  they 
claim  to  be  their  rights,  and  have  never  yielded  a  point. 
They  stand  to-day  where  they  stood  when  they  first 
entered  the  territory." 

In  October,  1887,  out  of  forty-four  Mormon  jurors 
summoned  into  the  district  court  in  Salt  Lake  City, 
seven  were  excused,  twelve  took  the  oath,  and  twenty- 
five  refused  to  take  the  oath  because  it  made  them  promise 
to  obey  the  laivs  against  polygamy  in  future.  The  daily 
papers  then  pointed  out  how  clearly  this  showed  their  in- 
sincerity in  the  proposed  constitution  abolishing  polygamy, 
and,  lest  this  should  damage  their  prospects   for  state- 

1  Report  of  the  Utah  Commission  for  1889. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  319 

hood,  the  next  day  every  Mormon  juror  took  the  oath.  The 
unchanged  hostility  to  that  law,  the  deception,  perjury, 
and  servility  which  these  facts  show,  are  almost  incred- 
ible. It  is  the  uniform  practice  of  Judge  Zane,  before 
sentencing  polygamists,  to  offer  substantial  pardon  to 
them  if  they  will  promise  to  obey  the  law  in  the  future ; 
but  the  court  records  show  that  out  of  sixty-one  convic- 
tions recently  for  unlawful  cohabitation,  forty-eight  refused 
to  promise  and  preferred  to  go  to  the  penitentiary.  This 
illustrates  clearly  what  is  to  be  expected  in  case  the  Mor- 
mons should  be  allowed  to  rule  over  themselves  by  admit- 
ting Utah  as  a  state. 

An  old  resident  of  Utah,  who  knows  whereof  he  speaks, 
says  :  "  Were  Utah  now  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union  as 
a  state,  it  would  not  be  a  state  as  contemplated  by  the 
Constitution  ;  it  woidd  simply  be  a  gigantic  church  organi- 
zation endowed  with  state  powers.  Every  one  who  knows 
anything  about  the  working  of  this  church  organization 
knows  that  at  elections  everything  is  cut  and  dried  for 
the  people  beforehand  by  the  priesthood.  There  are 
serious  objections  to  a  union  of  church  and  state,  but  it 
is  still  worse  when  it  is  all  church  and  no  state,  as  hereto- 
fore in  Utah.  Delegate  Caine  says  in  Congress  that  not 
more  than  three  per  cent  of  the  Mormon  people  subscribe 
to  or  practice  polygamy.  This  is  not  true  ;  there  are  not 
three  per  cent  of  the  Mormon  Church  but  who  do  sub- 
scribe to  it  as  a  divine  institution,  none  of  whom,  if 
placed  on  a  jury  (and  left  free  to  act) ,  would  ever  convict 
for  that  offence  ;  for  they  all  aid  and  abet  and  encourage 
it  if  they  do  not  practice  it.  It  is  a  church  of  polyga- 
mists." 1 

From   the  mountains  of  evidence  to  the  contrary,  no 

1  The  Salt  Lake  Tribune,  January  27, 1888. 


320  Tlie  Mormon  Delusion. 

one  can  believe  that  the  Mormons  would  ever,  of  their 
own  choice,  punish  polygamists.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
whatever  but  that  the  provision  in  their  constitution  pro- 
hibiting polygamy  tvould  be  a  dead  letter  in  Utah.  By  an 
overwhelming  majority  Utah  is  under  the  control  of  the 
Mormons.  As  a  state,  judges,  grand  and  petit  juries, 
sheriffs  and  legislators,  would  all  be  Mormons  ;  and  who 
would  then  indict  polygamists  ?  Who  prosecute  or  con- 
vict, or  sentence  or  imprison  them,  whatever  the  consti- 
tution might  say  ? 

Some  suppose  that  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  prohibiting  polygamy,  would  effect- 
ually destroy  it  even  under  statehood.  Even  this  would 
have  very  little  effect  while  the  population  of  Utah  is 
overwhelmingly  Mormon  ;  the  people  would  obstruct  the 
execution  of  any  United  States  law  against  polygamy  and 
make  such  a  constitutional  provision  of  no  practical  effect. 

Some  of  the  women's  Christian  missionary  societies  of 
the  country  circulated  petitions  against  the  admission  of 
Utah  into  the  Union  as  a  state,  and  in  1888  presented  to 
the  United  States  Senate  a  petition  containing  one  hun- 
dred and  two  thousand  names. 

The  Mormons  labored  long  and  desperately  to  win 
statehood  under  this  scheme.  They  kept  a  lobby  from 
Utah  in  Washington,  and  employed  several  eastern 
attorneys.  Arguments  were  made  for  and  against 
admission,  before  the  Committee  on  Territories  of  the 
United  States  Senate.1  They  were  defeated.  On  March 
26,  1888,  that  committee  reported  unanimously  against 
the  admission  of  Utah. 

1  United  States  Senate  Documents,  188S:  "Admission  of  Utah;"  argu- 
ments in  favor  by  Franklin  S.  Richards,  of  Utah,  pp.  1-36.  186-162;  by  Hon. 
J.  E.  McDonald,  of  Indiana,  p.  37;  by  Hon.  J.  M.  Wilson,  of  Ohio,  p.  58. 
Arguments  against  admission  by  R.  X.  Buskin,  Esq.,  of  Utah,  p.  81;  by 
Rev.  M.  W.  Montgomery,  of  Minneapolis,  p.  163. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  321 

The  impression  is  common  that  if  polygamy  were 
abandoned,  Mormonism  would  be  destroyed.  On  the 
contrary,  polygamy  is  only  one  of  the  symptoms  of  Mor- 
monism, although  often  erroneously  supposed  to  be  an 
essential  part  of  the  system.  Mormonism  had  grown 
strong  before  polygamy  was  engrafted  upon  it.  The 
plural-wife  system  was  the  base  afterthought  of  its 
founder.  Should  polygamy  be  actually  abandoned  by 
the  Mormons  its  chief  elements  of  strength  would  yet 
remain.  Its  heathenish  doctrines,  its  priestly  rule,  its 
propagating  missionary  methods,  its  grasping  financial 
system,  and  its  unequaled  organization  would  continue  to 
carry  it  forward.  When  all  other  means  have  failed  to 
secure  statehood  for  Utah,  we  may  not  be  surprised  to 
hear  that  the  Mormons  have  received  a  "revelation" 
to  give  up  polygamy  since  "  the  world  is  not  yet  ready 
for  it,"  etc.  But  with  the  history  of  the  Mormons  open 
to  the  world,  such  a  pretence  will  not  succeed  in  hood- 
winking Congress  or  the  people. 

A  United  States  senator  has  asked :  "Is  the  power  of 
the  Mormon  Church  anything  more  than  the  power  of 
the  majority?"  1  The  answer  is  that  the  political  power 
of  the  Mormon  Church  in  Utah  has  no  majority  nor 
minority  parties  in  it.  It  is  simply  a  one-man  power ; 
and  that  one  man  is  the  head  of  the  church.  He,  and 
two  or  three  others  whom  he  may  choose  to  consult,  rule 
over  all  Mormons  with  despotic  sway  in  all  things  — 
political,  temporal,  and  religious. 

"In  the  Mormon  polity  established  and  governing  the 
people  of  this  territory  since  its  settlement,  the  unity  of 
the  church  and  state  has  been  perfect  and  indissoluble."2 

1  United  States  Seriate  Documents,  Admission  of  Utah,  p.  169. 

2  Report  of  Governor  West,  1888. 


322  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Brigham  Young  said  :  "Our  ecclesiastical  governmeut 
is  the  government  of  heaven,  and  incorporates  all  govern- 
ments on  earth ;  it  is  the  fountain,  the  main  spring,  the 
source  of  all  light  and  power  and  government  that  ever 
did  or  can  exist ;  it  circumscribes  the  governments  of 
this  world." 

The  Salt  Luke  Tribune  says  :  "TJiere  is  not  cm  instance 
on  record  where  a  Mormon  has  dared  to  '  disobey  counsel,' 
that  he  has  not  felt  the  vengeance  of  the  church  at  once. 
From  Brigham  Young  down,  the  claim  of  the  right  to 
absolutely  rule  the  people  has  been  insisted  upon,  and 
any  rebellion  from  that  rule  has  meant  bankruptcy, 
ostracism,  and  often  much  worse  things. 

"  There  has  not  been  a  moment  of  time  since  the  Mor- 
mon people  first  landed  in  Utah  that  they  have  not  given 
their  highest  allegiance  to  some  other  power  than  the 
government  of  the  United  States. 

"The  Mormons  are  not  Americans.  Their  real  alle- 
giance is  not  to  the  government  of  the  United  States. 
They  do  not  believe  in  self-government.  They  are  the 
willing  subjects  of  a  king,  and  they  make  him  their 
Supreme  Court  by  which  every  law  of  the  United  States 
is  construed,  and  whatever  whim  he  takes,  that  whim 
becomes  their  law. 

"They  have  not  prepared  their  rank  and  file  to  be 
intelligent  citizens  of  a  republic  ;  rather  they  have  taught 
them  from  the  cradle  up  that  the  government  of  the 
Republic  was  an  unlawful  one  which  they  or  their  children 
must  overthrow." 

Brigham  Young  openly  rejoiced  at  the  news  of  Lincoln's 
assassination,  and  publicly  said  that  the  Presidents  of  the 
United  States  would  be  his  boot-blacks  in  the  next  world. 
The  ill-concealed  joy  of  the  Mormon  organ,  The  Deseret 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  323 

News,  at  the  anarchist  outbreaks  is  evident ;  and  the  half- 
masting  of  the  United  States  flags  on  Mormon  public 
buildings  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1885,  will  not  soon  be 
forgotten. 

The  disgraceful  laxity  of  the  United  States  in  dealing 
with  the  Mormons  during  their  forty  years  of  growth  in 
a  territory  wholly  under  the  control  of  Congress  is  sharply 
turned  against  Congress  by  George  Ticknor  Curtis,  who 
is  said  to  have  long  been  an  attorney  for  the  Mormons. 
In  an  argument  in  favor  of  giving  statehood  to  Utah,  he 
says  :  — 

' ;  Utah  was  organized  into  a  territory  by  an  act  of 
Congress  passed  in  1850  ;  and  then  occurred,  if  not  a 
direct  sanction  of  polygamy,  what  was,  at  least,  a 
marked  manifestation  of  public  indifference  about  it. 
Brigham  Young,  the  civil  and  religious  leader  of  the 
Mormons,  was  made  by  the  government  of  the  United 
States  territorial  governor,  and  he  held  the  office  for 
seven  years.  He  did  not  seek  it ;  it  was  offered  to  him, 
and  he  accepted  it.  Every  well-informed  person  in  the 
United  States  knew  that  he  had  numerous  wives,  and 
numerous  families  of  children  by  his  several  wives.  The 
government  could  just  as  well  have  sent  a  non-Mormon 
to  be  governor  ;  but  Brigham  Young  was  selected  because 
it  was  assumed  that  his  people  were  to  be  a  community 
by  themselves,  and  because  the  people  of  the  United 
States  did  not  care  enough  about  polygamy  to  take  any 
public  action  against  it.  This  torpor  and  indifference 
continued  for  a  period  of  fifteen  years,  during  which 
plural  marriages  were  greatly  multiplied  in  Utah.   .   .   . 

"  I  fearlessly  assert  that  the  toleration  extended  to 
polygamy  from  1847  to  1862,  and  from  1862  to  1882, 
imposed  on  the  people   and   government  of  the  United 


324  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

States  a  duty  to  shape  their  policy  very  differently  from 
the  mode  which  has  been  lately  followed."  1 

The  argument  is  this :  An  old  thief  who  has  long 
escaped  punishment  by  his  own  cunning  and  by  the 
inefficiency  of  the  police  has  therefore  a  right  to  continue 
his  crimes  unmolested,  and  also  to  be  admitted  into 
respectable  society. 

The  Mormons  present  three  arguments  why  they  should 
be  allowed  to  continue  their  "  wallowing  in  the  mire"  :  — 

1.  We  are  not  guilty  of  practicing  polygamy. 

2.  People  should  be  left  free  in  matters  of  conscience  ; 
polygamy  is  a  part  of  our  religion. 

3.  Since  we  have  practiced  polygamy  for  many  years 
in  violation  of  the  laws,  we  should  therefore  be  permitted 
to  continue. 

This  argument  is  equal  to  that  offered  in  the  famous 
kettle  case,  wherein  a  man  was  sued  by  a  neighbor  for 
having  cracked  a  large  iron  kettle  which  he  had  borrowed. 
At  the  trial  he  defended  himself  by  setting  up  three  pleas, 
namely  :  — 

1.  That  he  never  had  the  kettle. 

2.  That  it  was  cracked  when  he  got  it. 

3.  That  it  was  whole  when  he  took  it  home. 

It  may  be  that  the  American  people  and  Congress  will 
not  hereafter  give  the  Mormon  attorneys  an  opportunity 
to  make  a  plea  so  humiliating  to  our  country. 

"Standing  face  to  face  with  the  law,  the  leaders  and 
their  obedient  followers  have  made  no  concession  to  its 
supremacy,  and  the  issue  is  squarely  maintained  between 
assumed  revelations  and  the  laws  of  the  land."2 

In  an  official  letter  to  the  church,   dated  October  6, 

1  The  Forum,  November,  188S. 

2  Report  of  the  Utah  Commission  for  1887. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  325 

1886,  and  signed  by  the  first  presidency,  John  Taylor, 
and  George  Q.   Cannon,   it  was  said  :  — 

"  The  brethren  are  now  lingering  in  prison  for  declin- 
ing to  repudiate  their  wives.  It  is  well  known  that  every 
one  of  them  would  have  escaped  the  penalties  of  the  law 
if  they  would  but  promise  to  obey  the  law  in  the  future 
as  construed  by  the  courts.  They  would  not  make  a 
promise  which  they  did  not  intend  to  keep." 

In  view  of  the  punishments  inflicted  upon  the  Mormons 
for  violating  the  laws  against  polygamy  and  unlawful 
cohabitation,  The  Deseret  News  (September  4,  1886) 
says  :  — 

"  What  change  has  been  wrought  in  the  faith  of  the 
Latter  Day  /Saints  in  regard  to  the  principle  of  plural 
marriage,  persecuted  as  they  have  been  of  late,  ostensibly 
on  this  account,  but  really  for  political  reasons?  We 
answer,  None  whatever,  except  to  increase  their  faith 
therein." 

If  Utah  were  admitted  as  a  state,  "  how  long  would 
affairs  remain  even  in  their  present  condition  ?  How  long 
before  the  presidents,  apostles,  elders,  and  the  priest- 
hood generally  would  parade  the  streets  at  the  heads  of 
their  harems  ?  How  long  would  any  Gentile  or  non-Mor- 
mon be  permitted  to  hold  or  exercise  the  duties  of  any 
office  or  place  of  trust  in  the  territory?  How  long, 
indeed,  until  a  system  of  boycotting,  which  the  priest- 
hood knows  only  too  well  how  to  institute  and  make 
thoroughly  efficient,  would  be  brought  into  active  work- 
ing order,  and  the  Gentile  element,  with  its  advanced 
civilization,  its  trade  and  its  traffic,  be  driven  from 
the  territory,  and  the  Mormon  theocracy  be  made 
supreme  ?  " l 

One  of    the    best    informed    men    in   Utah,    who    has 
1  Report  of  the  Utah  Commission  for  1889. 


326  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

resided  there  for  many  years,  writes  under  date  of  Jan- 
uary 4,  1888  :  "I  believe  that  the  admission  of  Utah 
into  the  Union  as  a  state  at  this  time  would  culminate  in 
bloodshed  in  less  than  one  year  after  the  passage  of  such 
a  bill.  Some  of  us  out  here  begin  to  feel  like  resting  on 
our  oars  for  very  weariness  in  this  conflict.  But  the 
hardy  miners  in  Utah  are  beginning  to  talk  of  letting  the 
Mormons  have  their  way,  if  Congress  and  the  Executive 
shall  prove  recreant  and  make  Utah  a  state,  and  of  meet- 
ing the  crisis  that  will  come  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 
My  extensive  acquaintance  with  the  miners  and  with  the 
old  Union  and  Confederate  soldiers  enables  me  to  judge 
correctly  of  the  growing  determination  in  this  direction. 
Such  is  the  feeling  between  the  loyal  and  disloyal  ele- 
ments here,  that  if  a  conflict  comes  it  will  be  a  most 
vindictive  one." 

In  the  burning  language  of  one  of  Utah's  loyal  citi- 
zens :  "Little  as  the  masses  believe  it  now,  there  will 
come  a  time,  if  this  monster  in  Utah  is  left  to  grow, 
when  there  will  be  another  call  for  volunteers  and  for 
money ;  and,  as  before,  tens  of  thousands  of  brave 
young  men  will  go  away,  never  to  return ;  as  before, 
there  will  be  an  enormous  debt  incurred  ;  as  before,  the 
country  will  be  hillocked  with  graves,  and  the  whole  land 
will  be  moistened  with  the  rain  of  women's  tears."  l 

1 C.  C.  Goodwin,  in  Harper's  Magazine. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  327 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

THE    OUTLOOK.  PAST    MIDNIGHT    IN    UTAH.  ATTITUDE    OF 

THE      MORMONS. SCHOOLS      AND     CHURCHES.  WHAT 

OUGHT      CONGRESS      TO      DO     FOR     UTAH? WHAT     CAN 

CITIZENS  DO? 

IN  1880  the  population  of  Utah  was  143,962,  of  whom 
43,993  were  foreign  born,  and  80,841  were  born  in 
Utah.  Since  1880  (to  October,  1889),  the  foreign-born 
population  has  increased  by  Mormon  immigration  16,094. ] 
The  estimated  population  in  1889  was  230, 000. 2  The 
number  of  votes  cast  in  Utah  at  the  election  for  members 
of  the  legislative  assembly  in  August,  1889,  was  as 
follows  : 3 

Mormon   votes 14,192 

Gentile         „ 6,054 

Scattering   ,, 66 

Total       20,312 

The  number  of  registered  voters  in  1889  was,  however, 
31, 201. 4 

There  are  no  free  public  schools  in  Utah  except  in  the 
few  places  under  Gentile  control.  The  Commissioner  of 
Public  Schools  is  a  non-Mormon,  but  Congress  has  given 
him  so  little  power  that  he  can  not  exercise  "much  influ- 
ence on  the  management  of  the  schools.  He  has  no 
voice  in  selecting  the  school-teachers,  and  hence,  out  of 
about  four  hundred  school  districts  in  that  territory,  about 
ninety  per  cent   of  the  teachers  are  Mormons. 

1  Report  of  Governor  A.  L.  Thomas,  1889.  2  Ibid.  3  Ibid. 

*  Report  of  the  Utah  Commission  for  1889, 


328  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

The  total  number  of  children  in  Utah,  July  1,  1888, 
between  the  ages  of  six  and  eighteen  years,  was  54,953  ; 
children  of  Mormon  parents,  47,371  ;  children  of  non- 
Mormon  parents,  7,582.  There  is  a  general  tax  for 
school  purposes  and  a  special  tax  upon  parents  who  send 
children  to  the  public  schools.  Less  than  two  per  cent 
of  the  children  of  non-Mormon  parents  attend  the  public 
(that  is,  Mormon)  schools,  and  only  four  per  cent  of  the 
children  of  Mormon  parents  attend  their  own  Mormon 
public  schools  ;  making  a  total  attendance  on  the  public 
schools  of  less  than  six  per  cent,  of  the  children  of 
school  age  in  that  territory.  These  Mormon  schools  are 
of  low  grade,  and  are  kept  open  only  a  small  portion  of 
the  year.  Several  religious  denominations  maintain  in 
many  places  in  Utah  free  Christian  schools  of  a  high 
grade,  and  this  competition  has  improved  the  quality  and 
lengthened  the  terms  of  the  Mormon  schools. 

Some  of  the  Mormons  have  what  may  be  termed 
"  polygamous  schools."  There  is  one  such  ten  miles  out 
from  Salt  Lake  City  called  "  Mr.  Sessions'  school."  Mr. 
Sessions  has  had  a  large  number  of  wives  and  is  said  to 
have  above  fifty  children.  This  is  his  private  school  for 
his  own  "  select"  family  circle.  Upon  a  certain  clay  in 
November,  1887,  there  were  thirty-four  children  present 
who  were,  the  teacher  said,  the  children  and  grandchildren 
of  Mr.  Sessions.     This  teacher  was  quite  illiterate. 

The  irresistible  and  permanent  forces  at  work  in  Utah 
for  its  renovation  are  the  missionary  schools  and  Chris- 
tian churches.  Under  the  intolerant  rule  of  Brigham 
Young  the  pioneer  missionaries  took  their  lives  in  their 
hands.  The  Sunday-school  superintendent  of  the  Con- 
gregational mission  was  assassinated  upon  the  streets  of 
Salt  Lake  City  ;  a  Presbyterian  missionary  was  repeatedly 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  329 

threatened  with  the  loss  of  his  life,  while  the  Methodist 
and  Episcopalian  and  all  other  early  missionaries  were 
necessarily  the  stuff  of  which  martyrs  are  made.  At  first 
the  Mormons  could  best  be  reached  through  free  schools 
for  their  children.  The  schools  were  followed  with  reli- 
gious services,  and  later  with  preaching.  So  much  pro- 
gress has  thus  been  made  by  the  teacher  and  missionary 
that  for  several  years  past  the  whole  territory  has  been 
open  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel. 

There  are  heroes  and  heroines  in  these  latter  days 
among  the  Christian  missionary  workers  in  Utah.  No 
foreign  missionary  service  requires  a  more  self-sacrificing 
spirit.  The  laborer  in  Utah  has  peculiar  burdens  which 
are  found  in  no  other  field  :  he  is  isolated  from  congenial 
society  ;  the  vulgarities  and  profanity  of  Mormons  and 
their  children  surround  families  with  injurious  influences  ; 
and  a  moral  miasma  exists  in  the  whole  social  atmosphere 
which  must  be  experienced  to  be  understood.  The  de- 
lusion and  immoralities  against  which  they  labor  yield 
slowly  to  the  disintegrating  influences  of  the  gospel. 
One  great  burden  is  the  strained,  unnatural  tension  in 
society  in  the  relations  between  the  Mormons  and  non- 
Mormons.  Mutual  suspicion  exists.  To  be  fully  ap- 
preciated this  must  be  felt  by  long  residence  in  Utah. 
The  Mormon  people  hate  Gentile  contact  at  every  point. 
They  cordially  hate  all  Gentiles,  as  a  whole  and  in  detail. 
A  Mormon  never  employs  a  Gentile,  except  he  be  an  attor- 
ney. A  Mormon  woman  stands  aloof  from  and  never  calls 
first  upon  her  Gentile  neighbor,  and  makes  her  return  calls 
brief  and  few.  While  there  are  exceptions  to  all  these 
statements,  yet  the  rule  holds  that  Mormons  "  have  no 
dealings  with"  Gentiles.  When  a  United  States  marshal 
visits  a  village  and  arrests   a  polygamist,  or  the  United 


ooO  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

States  Court  sends  one  such  to  the  penitentiary,  the  whole 
Mormon  community  is  embittered  with  anger,  and  sullen 
toward  the  Gentile  missionary,  or  isolated  lady  teachers, 
who  are  devoting  their  lives  to  benefit  these  same 
Mormons.  This  state  of  society  makes  the  missionary 
service  very  difficult  and  wearing  upon  the  nerves  and 
spirits. 

The  missionary  societies  begin  their  schools  thus : 
A  lady  teacher  arrives  at  some  Mormon  town  an  entire 
stranger.  After  engaging  board  in  a  Mormon  family  and 
renting  such  a  room  as  can  be  found  for  a  school,  she 
gives  notice  that  she  will  open  a  free  school. 

The  school  is  opened  with  perhaps  only  two  or  three, 
possibly  half  a  dozen,  small  children.  Not  infrequently 
the  opening  is  much  less  auspicious.  In  one  case  the 
courageous  young  lady  patiently  passed  the  slow  hours  of 
five  days  in  her  solitary  school-room,  and  not  one  pupil 
had  yet  appeared.  Going  to  the  post-office  that  evening, 
the  postmaster,  a  Mormon,  asked  how  her  school  was 
prospering.  AYith  starting  tears  she  told  him  the  truth. 
Apparently  out  of  pity  at  first,  he  began  to  send  his  own 
children,  and  the  school  was  soon  full  to  overflowing.  In 
other  instances,  one,  two,  and  sometimes  more,  days  have 
passed  with  an  empty  school-room  before  any  of  the 
Mormons,  however  poor,  would  dare  to  risk  their  chil- 
dren in  a  school  taught  by  a  Gentile.  For  the  first  few 
days  the  children  are  closely  questioned  upon  reaching 
home  in  the  evening  about  what  the  teacher  taught  them, 
and  especially  whether  she  said  anything  about  Mormon- 
ism.  Finding  that  she  is  not  attacking  their  faith  and 
that  she  is  a  very  kind  and  skillful  teacher,  confidence  is 
soon  established,  and  the  school  fills  up  and  goes  forward 
peacefully.      The    Mormon   leaders    often   oppose    these 


Tlie  Mormon  Delusion. 


331 


schools,   and   in   some   instances   have   preached    against 
them. 

The  different  denominations  had,  in  Utah,  for  the  year 
ending  June  30,  1889,  the  following  schools  : l 


1889. 

1888. 

Denomination. 

o  © 

No.  of 
Pupils. 

to 

■—>  u 

2 

6 

24 

21 

32 

6 

2 

3 
50 

48 
35 
62 
27 
5 

150 

900 

2,490 

1,396 

2,150 

800 

75 

2 

7 

22 

20 

33 

5 

1 

3 

50 
38 
61 
61 
22 

3 

140 

1,000 

Congregational 

Methodist 

Presbyterian 

Protestant  Episcopal    .   . 
Swedish  Lutheran  .... 

1,883 

1,649 

1,925 

800 

45 

Total 

93 

230 

7,961 

90 

238 

7,442 

"Of  the  2,490  scholars  enrolled  in  the  Congregational 
schools,  1,035  were  the  children  of  Mormon  parents;  of 
the  1,396  scholars  enrolled  in  the  Methodist  schools,  291 
were  the  children  of  Mormon  parents."2 

Twelve  or  fifteen  of  these  schools  are  academies,  but 
most  of  them  correspond  to  the  primary  public  schools  in 
the  States. 

The  success  of  these  Christian  schools,  and  the  fear 
that  Congress  may  place  all  the  public  schools  of  the 
territory  under  the  control  of  anti-Mormons,  have  led 
the  Mormons  to  begin  private  church  schools. 

A  leading  Mormon  recently  said  :  — 

"  Those  who  are  not  of  us  are  becoming  numerous  and 
wealthy  in  our  midst,  and  they  are  obtaining  control  of 
our  schools.     We  must  therefore  establish  schools  where 


Report  of  the  Governor  of  Utah,  1889. 


'Ibid. 


332 


The  Mormon  Delusion. 


our  youth  can  be  taught  by,  and  made,  Latter  Day 
Saints." 

The  president  of  the  church  also  wrote,  June  8, 
1888  :  — 

"  We  should  have  schools  where  the  Bible,  the  Book 
of  Mormon,  and  the  Book  of  Doctrines  and  Covenants 
can  be  used  as  text-books,  and  where  the  principles 
of  our  religion  may  form  part  of  the  teachings  of  the 
schools." 

The  report  of  Governor  A.  L.  Thomas  of  Utah,  for 
1889,  says  :  "  The  Mormon  people,  with  almost  entire 
unanimity,  are  quietly  preparing  for  denominational 
schools,  in  which  their  children  may  be  taught  Mormon 
theology  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  branches  of  educa- 
tion. 

"It  is  very  plain  that  the  church  has  decided  to  take 
its  place  as  an  enemy  of  the  public  school  system  and 
the  principles  which  are  its  foundation.  The  remedy  for 
such  an  evil  is  obvious.  Congress  should  at  once  place 
the  control  of  the  public  schools  in  the  hands  of  those 
who  are  disposed  to  be  friendly  to  the  public  school 
system." 

The  number  of  Christian  ministers  and  churches  in 
Utah  on  June  1,  1888,  was  as  follows:1 


Denomination. 


Number 
of  Ministers. 


Baptist 

Catholic 

Congregational  .  .  . 

Methodist 

Presbyterian  .... 
Protestant  Episcopal 
Swedish  Lutheran    . 

Total 


Hfeport  of  the  Utah  Commission  for  1S8S. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  333 

These  churches,  as  the  schools,  are  reaching  the  people 
who  have  been  Mormons.  Some  churches  have  very  few 
members  who  have  been  reared  in  Mormonism  ;  others 
have  a  membership  almost  wholly  coming  from  Mormon 
sources  ;  and  generally  a  very  large  per  cent  have  come 
out  from  such  influences.  Some  Christian  churches  have 
in  their  membership  grandchildren  of  Brigham  Young  and 
of  other  old-time  Mormon  leaders. 

These  religious  denominations  are  expending  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  annually  to  carry 
on  these  missionary  schools  and  churches  in  Utah. 

The  Christian  sentiment  of  the  people  of  this  country 
has  all  along  been  far  in  advance  of  Congress  in  its 
determination  to  drive  Mormonism  from  our  body  politic. 
Knowing  that  "the  gospel  of  Christ  is  the  power  of 
God,"  they  have  never  doubted  their  ability  to  supplant 
the  Utah  Evil  with  a  Christian  society.  After  waiting 
twenty  years  for  Congress  to  take  some  decisive  steps 
ao-ainst  this  unlawful  monster,  the  churches  bea;an  to 
send  missionaries  to  begin  the  task  which  the  government 
had  so  long  neglected.  Missionaries  began  their  work  in 
Salt  Lake  City  in  1865,  nine  years  before  the  Poland  bill 
became  a  law,  and  seventeen  years  before  the  passage  of 
the  Edmunds  law.  The  military  and  legislative  arms  of 
the  government  should  first  have  made  Utah  a  safe  place 
for  Christian  men  and  women  to  do  missionary  service 
in.  But  Congress  moved  with  amazing  slowness  toward 
any  effective  legislation. 

A  very  discouraging  fact  in  missionary  work  in  Utah  is 
that  nearly  all  Mormons  when  the}7  give  up  Mormonism 
become  atheists.  This  is  the  case  to  so  great  an  extent 
as  to  be  practically  universal.  The}7  have  been  taught  to 
regard  the  "revelations"  of  Joseph  Smith  as  of  higher 


334  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

authority  than  the  Bible,  and  when  they  give  up  these 
they  declare  that  they  are  "  done  with  all  religions." 

"At  the  Mormon  annual  conference  held  in  Provo, 
Utah,  April  4-8,  1886,  one  of  the  leading  speakers  con- 
fessed with  a  sad  heart  that  one  third  of  all  the  boys  and 
young  men  in  Utah  between  fifteen  and  thirty  years  of  age 
ivere  infidels.'"  l 

No  braver  people  or  better  citizens  ever  stood  in  the 
front  ranks  of  an  army  in  battle  than  the  non-Mormon, 
or  "  Gentile,"  people  of  Utah.  For  many  years  they 
have  borne  the  brunt  of  battle  in  this  struggle  with 
Mormonism.  To  do  so  requires  courage  of  a  higher 
and  more  enduring  quality  than  to  enlist  in  an  army  with 
banners. 

There  are  nearly  fifty  thousand  of  these  citizens  ;  they 
are  loyal  and  law-abiding ;  they  are  in  Utah  as  proper, 
permanent  residents  ;  their  homes,  families,  and  business 
interests  are  there  ;  most  of  them  have  resided  there  niany 
years  ;  they  have  done  tenfold  more  to  develop  the  material 
interests  of  the  territory  than  the  Mormons  have  ;  and 
they  are  above  the  average  in  intelligence.  Take  a  single 
example  :  one  academy  in  Salt  Lake  City  has,  among  its 
trustees,  fourteen  men  who  are  residents  of  Utah ;  of 
these,  eight  are  members  of  a  Christian  church  ;  eight 
were  born  in  New  England,  and  five  in  New  York  and 
Michigan  ;  three  are  graduates  of  Amherst  College  ;  nine 
are  literary  men  ;  four  have  been  members  of  legislatures 
in  the  States  ;  seven  have  held  honorable  positions  in  the 
United  States  army  or  in  government  service  ;  their  aver- 
age residence  in  Utah  has  been  thirteen  years.  Three 
hundred  and  fifty  of  these  residents  of  Utah  are  the 
cultured  missionaries  and  teachers  of  the  several  religious 
denominations. 

!The  Mormon  Problem,  p.  134. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  335 

These  non-Moraion  citizens  are  at  the  focus-point  of 
the  contest  between  Monnonism  and  the  United  States. 
They  are  doing  battle  for  their  country,  and  for  the  whole 
country.  And  yet  it  is  these  citizens  whom  ex-United 
States  Senator  Joseph  E.  McDonald,  of  Indiana,  an 
attorney  for  the  Mormons,  seeks  to  stigmatize  as  "a 
set  of  adventurers,"  in  his  efforts  to  break  the  force  of 
their  united  opposition  to  admitting  Utah  as  a  state. 

These  loyal  citizens  call  upon  the  people  of  the  United 
States  and  upon  Congress  for  aid  in  this  conflict  in  which 
all  the  land  is  equally  interested. 

Ex-United  States  Attorney  W.  H.  Dickson,  of  Salt 
Lake  City,  in  his  address  to  the  Grand  Army  soldiers 
en  route  to  California,  said:  "We  daily  feel  that  we 
need  the  support  and  assistance  of  the  loyal  citizens  of 
the  United  States  everywhere.  We  hope  that  on  your 
return  you  will  demand  of  Congress  redress  for  the 
mighty  evils  that  curse  this  territory." 

No  sketch  of  the  Gentile  forces  seeking  the  renovation 
of  Utah  would  be  complete  without  noting  the  work  of 
The  Salt  Lake  City  Daily  Tribune.  For  many  years  it 
has  exerted  a  wide-reaching  influence  for  the  emancipa- 
tion of  that  territory  from  its  peculiar  curse.  It  is  edited 
with  conspicuous  ability  by  Judge  C.  C.  Goodwin,  whose 
editorial  style  is  remarkably  original  and  beautiful.  The 
country  at  large  owes  much  to  the  managers  of  that 
newspaper  for  the  signal  courage  and  fidelit}"  with  which 
they  have,  through  many  dark  years,  kept  alive  and  afloat 
in  that  territory  the  thoughts  which  cluster  around  the 
American  flag,  until  it  is  already  "past  midnight  in 
Utah,"  and  the  morning  glow  shines  faintly  over  the 
mountains  which  gather  about  the  Great  Salt  Lake. 

Judge  Charles  S.  Zane,  of  the  United  States  Supreme 


oob  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

Court  in  Utah,  deserves  special  honor  for  his  patriotic 
services  on  the  bench.  Coming  to  the  supreme  bench  in 
Utah  with  the  new  Edmunds  law  to  administer,  with  no 
precedents  to  assist,  and  with  multiplied  obstacles  sur- 
rounding the  just  operation  of  the  courts  by  means  of 
Mormon  jurors  and  Mormon  perjury,  his  clear  vision  of 
the  great  principles  of  law  and  his  fearless  courage  at 
once  lifted  the  court  above  its  embarrassments  and  set 
in  motion  the  first  series  of  court  trials  in  Utah  which 
have  shown  to  the  Mormons  that  the  United  States 
government  can  and  will  enforce  its  own  laws.  A  world- 
wide scattering  and  hiding  of  Mormon  leaders  and  over 
nine  hundred  convictions  of  Mormon  criminals  are  some 
of  the  results. 

"  His  coming  marked  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  Utah. 
From  the  first  day  that  he  presided  over  his  court  here, 
the  men  who,  up  to  his  coming,  had  always  believed  in 
their  ability  to  defeat  certain  of  their  country's  laws 
began  to  lose  faith  in  their  charm.  They  realized  that 
one  was  here  that  could  never  be  coaxed,  bribed,  or 
intimidated,  one  who  had  no  guide  but  duty,  and  who 
would  follow  the  path  marked  out  by  duty  whether  it  led 
upward  to  fortune  and  fame  or  down  to  defeat  and 
despair. 

l'  He  was  the  Columbus  that  opened  the  way  to  the 
new  Utah  which  is  slowly  coming  into  view,  and  his 
fame  is  secure,  no  matter  what  may  come.  He  has 
humbly,  faithfully,  and  bravely  wrought  a  mighty  work 
here  ;  through  the  fiery  furnace  he  walked  and  no  smell 
of  fire  attached  to  his  garments,  and  the  light  that  shone 
down  from  his  life  has  made  Utah  brighter."  l 

The  facts  that  during  the  last  two  or  three  years  many 

1  The  Salt  Lake  City  Daily  Tribune. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  337 

Mormons  have  been  punished  for  their  violations  of 
United  States  laws,  and  that  at  the  municipal  elections 
in  Salt  Lake  City  and  Ogden  during  1889  the  Gentiles 
came  into  political  control  of  those  cities,  have  led  many 
to  the  hasty  conclusion  that  "  the  Mormon  problem  is 
about  solved."  Some  writers  have  gone  so  far  as  to  say 
that  "  the  Mormons  are  in  full  retreat." 

Such  a  conclusion  is  not  warranted  by  the  facts.  That 
desirable  goal  has  not  been  reached  ;  but,  rather,  it  is 
yet  many  years  in  the  future.  Some  encouraging  pro- 
gress has  been  made  toward  breaking  the  limbs  and 
uprooting  this  long-lived  Utah  Evil,  but  many  slow  years 
will  yet  be  stretched  out  before  the  American  people  can 
say,  "  The  power  of  Mormonism  is  broken  and  the  end  of 
this  wickedness  is  at  hand." 

Let  us  look  at  the  actual  facts.  The  organization  of 
the  Mormon  Church  remains  intact.  Its  enormous  in- 
come from  tithing  and  its  world-wide  missionary  opera- 
tions move  forward  the  same  as  in  its  palmiest  days. 
The  Mormons  are  substantially  the  unit  in  all  things  that 
the}7  have  always  been. 

The  collection  of  the  Mormon  tithing  tax  is  still  pushed 
as  vigorously  as  during  the  "Reign  of  Terror"  under 
Brigham  Young. 

"  The  tithing  yard  is  an  institution  that  facilitates,  so 
far  as  can  be  known,  a  petty  jobbery  of  public  plunder- 
ing. It  does  an  immense  business  ;  it  receives  as  tithing 
everything  produced  in  the  territory,  and  this  is  disposed 
of  in  a  variety  of  ways.  If  the  city  is  doing  any  public 
work  the  poor  laborer  gets  his  pay  in  tithing  orders. 
How  this  is  settled  for  with  the  city  we  are  not  permitted 
to  know.  These  orders  are  worth  in  money  about  fifty 
cents  on  the  dollar,  but  are   worth  their  full  value  for 


338  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

anything  they  have  at  the  tithing  yard.  The  poor  in  the 
different  wards  of  the  city  are  helped  from  this  source  on 
the  bishop's  order,  the  head  church  officials  have  an 
account  there,  and  the  main  office  has  the  appearance 
and  magnitude  of  a  bank. 

"When  the  clerks  at  the  'coop'  are  paid  off,  an 
official  of  the  church  goes  along  to  get  the  tenth  of  the 
amount  paid  them,  and  up  to  the  present  year  the 
employees  of  the  Utah  Central,  Northern  and  Southern 
Railroads  did  the  same.  In  every  branch  of  the  city 
government  this  tithing  is  collected,  where  money  is  paid, 
and  so  intimate  are  these  relations  that  they  confirm  the 
suspicion  of  being  the  same  institution.  The  heads  of 
these  many. departments  are  filled  with  the  heads  of  the 
church  or  their  sons  or  their  brothers  or  their  uncles, 
beginning  with  the  Young  family  in  the  best  offices  and 
going  downward  in  regular  order  and  degree.  So  born 
and  bred  are  they  to  this  state  of  things  that  they  can't 
think  it  is  possible  to  change  it,  but  the  indications  are 
that  the  change  will  come,  and  what  a  change!  —  suffi- 
cient in  Mexico  to  make  a  revolution."  l 

The  Mormon  Church  has  yielded  none  of  its  claims  to 
supersede  all  churches  and  governments  of  the  earth, 
and  has  abandoned  not  one  of  its  peculiar  doctrines. 
Even  polygamy  is  none  the  less  believed  in  and  advo- 
cated. The  Mormons  openly  say  that  if  they  practice 
it  less  it  is  only  because  they  are  compelled  to  obey  laws 
against  wThich  they  protest. 

Only  a  very  few  transgressors,  compared  with  the  whole 
number,  have  yet  been  punished,  and  most  of  these  con- 
victed criminals  have  had  punishments  so  light  as  to 
indicate  that  the  laws  and  courts  have  been  merely  aiming 

1  Salt  Lake  correspondence. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  339 

to  frighten  the  Mormons  a  little  rather  than  to  make 
them  know  once  for  all  that  this  wickedness  must  stop. 
By  the  present  laws  their  crimes  are  outlawed  in  three 
years  ;  and  when  there  is  danger  of  arrest  they  go,  for 
a  time,  to  distant  states  or  to  foreign  lands  on  a  mission 
to  gather  new  converts.  From  the  beginning  of  the 
anti-polygamy  laws  in  1862  down  to  September  1,  1889, 
only  twenty-four  persons  had  been  convicted  of  polyg- 
amy. The  whole  Mormon  community  still  stands  an 
undivided  unit  in  obstructing  the  enforcement  of  the 
United  States  laws. 

None  of  these  facts  indicates  that  the  Mormons  are 
defeated  or  changed,  much  less  "  in  full  retreat." 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Gentile  forces  in  Utah  increase 
by  very  slow  degrees.  At  the  election  in  1889  for  mem- 
bers of  the  legislative  assembly  of  Utah,  out  of  the  thirty- 
six  members  only  eight  Gentiles  were  chosen  ;  and  the 
Gentiles  had  been  having  five  members  for  some  years 
previously.  In  twenty-one  out  of  the  twenty-four  coun- 
ties in  Utah  the  Mormons  are  in  a  large  majority  ;  and 
in  256  of  the  278  election  precincts  the  Mormons  were 
in  full  control  in  1889. * 

Almost  insuperable  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  Gentiles 
gaining  control  of  Utah  exist  in  the  Mormon  ownership 
of  the  tillable  lands  and  the  water  necessary  to  their 
irrigation,  and  their  refusal  to  sell  to  Gentiles.  Thus  it 
comes  about  that  nearly  all  the  Gentiles  in  Utah  reside 
in  the  cities  and  towns  or  in  mining  camps.  "  As  a  rule 
they  do  not  own  or  occupy  any  of  the  agricultural  lands, 
and  are  not  engaged  in  agriculture.  Nearly  all  the  land 
under  cultivation,  and  the  water  that  can  be  used  to 
irrigate  it  without  great  expense,  are  owned  and  appro- 

1  Report  of  Governor  A.  L.  Thomas,  1889. 


340  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

priated  by  the  Mormons,  and  as  they  hold  and  own  the 
land  and  water,  they  hold  and  own  Utah.  The  strict 
Mormons  regard  the  invasion  of  Utah  soil  by  Gentiles 
somewhat  as  the  Crusaders  regarded  the  occupancy  of 
the  Holy  Land  by  the  Saracens,  and  are  advised  by  their 
leaders  not  to  sell  their  lands  to  Gentiles."  l 

A  very  significant  fact  showing  the  undiminished 
strength  and  the  propagandist  spirit  of  the  Mormons  is 
seen  in  their  colonizing  in  adjacent  territories.  They 
not  only  control  Utah  by  an  overwhelming  majority,  but 
are  vigorous  enough  to  send  off  large  colonies  with  which 
to  engraft  their  system  upon  the  virgin  territories  lying  in 
the  Rocky  Mountain  range.  A  dying  faith  struggling 
at  home  against  enormous  odds  does  not  overflow  with 
vigorous  young  colonies  for  other  territories.  So  strong 
have  they  already  become  in  Idaho,  that  it  is  quite 
doubtful  if  that  territory  should  yet  be  admitted  into  the 
Union  as  a  state,  lest  the  Mormon  population,  voting  as 
a  unit,  be  a  balance  of  power  sufficient  to  control  and 
corrupt  her. 

"While  it  can  not  be  denied  that  progress  is  being 
made,  and  more  rapidly,  too,  than  at  any  previous  time 
in  the  history  of  the  territory,  it  will  be  seen  that  those 
who  are  of  the  opinion  that  Utah  has  passed  from  under 
the  Mormon  power  are  mistaken.  The  time  may  come 
when  the  Gentiles  will  be  in  a  majority,  but  it  will  be 
many  years  hence."2 

"As  to  the  general  situation  there  is  great  progress 
here,3  but  time  is  required  to  see  just  whither  we  are 
tending.  The  Gentile  majorities  in  Salt  Lake  Cit}'  and 
Ogden  do  not  mean  that  the   Mormon   Church  has  lost 

1  Report  of  A.  L.  Thomas,  Governor  of  Utah,  in  October,  1889.       2  Ibid, 
s  Rev.  J.  B.  Thrall,  of  Salt  Lake  City,  October,  1889. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  341 

its  grip  upon  the  masses.  It  means  progress,  hope, 
daybreak  —  and  that  is  all.  That  church,  though  sur- 
prised, dazed,  and  alarmed,  is  not  in  retreat.  It  never 
will  retreat  unless  forced  to  do  so  by  sheer  stress  of 
numbers  and  authority." 

"  The  greater  number  still  adhere  to  the  old  faith  with 
all  its  teachings  and  practices.  The  church  and  people 
stand  to-day  where  they  stood  when  the  first  colony  was 
planted  in  the  Salt  Lake  Valley."  1 

At  the  conference  of  the  Mormon  Church  held  in 
Salt  Lake  City  in  October,  1888,  Elder  John  Nicholson 
preached  about  the  prosecutions,  and  said :  — 

"It  is  to  the  glory  of  the  Saints  that  they  have  the 
opportunity  to  show  their  faith ;  we  don't  know  but  in 
this  contest  we  may  be  overwhelmed,  but  we  do  Jcnoiv  that 
we  will  not  go  back  one  step.'" 

"The  Mormon  delegate  from  Utah  in  Congress,  John 
T.  Caine,  reports,  August,  1888,  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives that  '  it  has  been  proven  in  judicial  proceedings 
that  the  Mormon  Church  no  longer  gives  permission  for 
plural  marriages.'  No  one  knows  better  than  Mr.  Caine 
that  no  such  thing  has  been  proven.  He  further  knows 
that  plural  marriages  are  still  being  regularly  celebrated  ; 
that  the  fact  is  known  to  hundreds  and  thousands  of 
people  ;  and  that  from  the  head  of  the  church  no  sign 
has  been  made  of  any  determination  to  relinquish  or  even 
to  suspend  the  operations  of  that  tenet  of  the  Mormon 
faith  which  the  leaders  hold  to  be  one  of  the  sacraments 
ordained  of  God."2 

"  In  the  opinion  of  the  Commission,  the  influences 
brought  to  bear  under  the  act  of  Congress  creating  it 

i  Hon.  A.  L.  Thomas,  Governor  of  Utah,  1889. 
2  The  Salt  Lake  Tribune,  August  28, 1888. 


342  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

and  those  amendatory  thereof,  together  with  the  vigorous 
administration  of  the  criminal  law  by  the  courts,  have 
had  a  marked  influence  in  restraint  of  polygamy.  That 
which  a  few  years  ago  was  practiced  openly,  and  flaunted 
in  the  face  of  the  world  as  the  boast  and  pride  of  this 
peculiar  people,  has  been  driven  to  cover  and  the  secrecy 
of  other  crimes.  If  plural  marriages  are  now  celebrated, 
it  is  done  in  the  secret  chambers  of  the  temples  and 
endowment  houses,  where  the  light  of  the  sun  never 
enters,  and  no  eyes  but  those  of  priests  and  neophytes 
are  allowed  to  witness  the  ceremonies. 

"If  polygamy  is  practiced,  it  is  with  the  secrecy  with 
which  the  burglar  guards  his  house-breaking  and  the  thief 
his  larcenies.  Few  convictions  are  had  for  polygamy. 
Few  polygamous  marriages  can  be  proven  within  three 
years,  the  period  of  limitation. 

"Fear  of  punishment  for  their  crimes,  dread  of  further 
and  more  stringent  legislation,  and  a  policy  dictated  by 
the  hope  of  statehood  at  an  early  period  are  sufficient 
motives  to  account  for  the  prudent  submission  that  is 
shown  at  present."  l 

' '  The  Mormon  question  is  not  growing  simpler :  it  is 
growing  graver  as  settlement  increases  in  Utah  and  Idaho 
and  as  these  territories  are  taking  a  place  in  national 
affairs."  2 

Concerning  the  discouraging  and  remedial  features  of 
the  work  for  the  renovation  of  Utah,  the  governor  of 
that  territory,  Arthur  L.  Thomas,  than  whom  no  man 
better  knows  the  real  situation  there,  says  :  3 

"  I  believe  it  is  the  intention  of  the  American  people 

1  Report  of  the  Utah  Commission  for  1889. 

2  The  New  York  Tribune,  December,  1889, 

3  Report  of  the  Governor  of  Utah,  1889. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  343 

to  extirpate  polygamy  and  its  kindred  evils  from  their 
land,  and  that  Congress  is  determined  to  give  force  and 
effect  to  this  intention  by  appropriate  legislation. 

"  Encouraging  Gentile  immigration  has  been  suo^ested. 
The  walls  are  up  against  it  unless  a  great  increase  in 
mining,  the  establishment  of  manufacturing  on  a  large 
scale,  or  the  founding  and  enlargement  of  industrial 
pursuits  other  than  agriculture  take  place.  The  found- 
ing, example,  and  teaching  of  Christian  churches  has 
been  recommended.  Several  denominations  have  estab- 
lished churches,  but  the  converts  from  Mormonism  are 
none  too  numerous.  Establish  schools  throughout  the 
territory,  others  say.  This  has  been  done  to  some  extent 
by  various  religious  denominations,  but  the  progress  is 
slow  in  producing  any  marked  result.  It  has  been  sug- 
gested that  the  courts  should  be  increased  and  offences 
vigorously  prosecuted.  The  government  has  been  for 
years  well  represented  by  able  and  efficient  officers,  and 
the  result  has  been  important,  but  not  decisive.  This 
course  has  not  changed  opinion,  but  has  caused  greater 
care  in  concealing  offences. 

' '  Others  suggest  the  taking  of  all  political  power  from 
the  church,  and  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  this  power 
is  used  by  the  church  to  strengthen  the  position  of  the 
leaders  socially,  politically,  and  financially.  They  point 
with  emphasis  to  the  fact  that  the  most  lucrative  county 
offices  in  the  territory  are  continued  in  certain  families, 
descending,  like  the  priesthood,  by  inheritance,  from 
father  to  son,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  '  common  people,' 
and  also  say  that  a  high  position  in  the  priesthood  is 
generally  accompanied  by  an  equally  high  position  in  the 
political  and  business  world,  secured  by  church  influence, 
until  religion,  politics,  and  business  are  so  intermingled 


344  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

that  it  is  difficult  to  draw  the  line  where  the  one  begins 
and  the  other  ends  ;  and  this  will  continue  to  be  so  until 
the  strong  hand  of  the  federal  government  is  interposed 
to  force  an  effectual  divorce  of  church  and  state 

"  This  suggestion  to  strip  the  church  of  political  power 
is  met  by  the  objection  that  it  is  an  attempt  to  punish  the 
Mormon  people  for  their  religious  views,  and  because  of 
this  is  unconstitutional. 

"  But  if  a  religious  sect  can  adopt  and  practice  some- 
thing prohibited  by  law  and  claim  immunity  on  account 
of  religious  belief,  it  may,  or  other  sects  may,  extend 
religious  belief  and  practices  to  cover  the  whole  domain 
of  criminal  law,  and  crimes  and  religion  would  become 
synonymous  terms.  The  Mormons  believe  in  and  prac- 
tice polygamy,  and  claim  it  is  justified  by  revelation,  and 
therefore  a  part  of  their  religion.  The  United  States 
punishes  the  offence  and  calls  it  a  crime,  and  what  the 
government  calls  crime  the  Mormon  Church  calls  religion 
—  claims  immunity  for  it  as  a  religious  belief,  and  to  that 
extent  swallows  up  the  domain  of  the  law. 

"  I  recognize,  however,  how  serious  the  situation  is, 
and  how  much  is  involved  in  the  duty  of  changing  the 
attitude  of  a  perfectly  disciplined  host.  I  do  not  care  to 
interpose  any  suggestions  beyond  echoing  the  voice  of 
the  loyal  people  here,  which  insists  that  what  is  unlawful 
in  the  Mormon  system  must  be  extirpated,  that  there 
must  be  no  relaxation ;  on  the  contrary,  should  the 
present  laws  prove  inadequate,  and  the  Mormon  people 
continue  in  their  present  attitude,  then  the  government 
should  not  hesitate  to  provide  some  form  of  government 
for  Utah  ivhich  will  be  patriotic  and  wise  enough  to  do  what 
is  right. 

4t  In    my   opinion,  expressing    to  the  government  my 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  345 

best  judgment,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  any  tempor- 
izing policy  which  leaves  the  church  in  a  position  to 
control  the  political  policy  of  the  territory  is  only  delay- 
ing the  final  settlement,  and  that  future  legislation  should 
be  aimed  at  the  political  power  of  the  church,  which  has 
been  the  main  pillar  of  its  strength  in  Utah. 

"  The  Utah  problem  is  wholly  new  in  America,  and  not 
so  easily  solved  as  those  unacquainted  with  all  the  facts 
might  suppose;  and  its  laterals  reach  to  the  mooted 
questions  of  unrestricted  immigration,  cheap  citizenship, 
and  whether  in  this  country  personal  rights  have  not  been 
hedged  so  closely  that  at  times  public  danger  may  ensue." 

What  ought  Congress  to  do  for  Utah  ? 

1.  Congress  should  prohibit  by  law  all  Mormon  immi- 
grants from  landing  on  American  soil,  and  disfranchise 
all  Mormons  in  United  States  territories. 

In  view  of  Judge  Anderson's  decision  that  the  Mor- 
mon Church,  its  teachings  and  its  obligations,  are  dis- 
loyal, the  way  is  legally  open  for  such  a  righteous  law. 
Let  the  inflow  of  foreign  Mormons  into  this  land  be 
stopped,  and  let  the  political  power  of  Mormonism  in 
the  territories  be  crushed  by  their  own  disloyalty. 

2.  Congress  should  enact  a  law  which  would  place  the 
public  schools  of  Utah  under  the  control  of  the  United 
States. 

For  five  successive  years  the  Utah  Commission  has 
asked  that  a  law  embracing  eighteen  provisions  be 
passed,  and  of  these  Congress  has  yet  enacted  only  five. 
The  Commission  also  "recommends,  as  a  measure  of 
great  importance,  the  passage  of  a  law  conferring  upon 
the  governor  of  the  territory  the  authority  to  appoint  the 
following  county  officers :  selectmen,  clerks,  assessors, 
recorders,  and  superintendents  of  district  schools."    This 


346  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

law  would  place  the  issue  aud  record  of  marriage  licenses, 
recording  of  deeds,  and  the  "supervision  of  the  public 
schools,  in  the  hands  of  persons  in  sympathy  with  the 
efforts  of  the  government  to  extirpate  polygamy." 

The  prompt  passage  of  such  a  law  is  vitally  important. 
The  common-school  teachers  of  the  whole  territory  would 
theu  be  non-Mormons  ;  schools  would  be  free  and  elevated 
in  grade,  and  no  longer,  as  they  now  do,  inculcate  the 
degrading  tenets  of  the  Mormon  Church.  This  would 
also  relieve  the  religious  denominations  of  this  country 
of  the  heavy  burden  of  maintaining  free  schools  in  that 
territory,  and  the}7  could  concentrate  their  efforts  on  the 
higher  schools  and  on  the  missionary  work.  It  is  time 
that  the  various  religious  bodies  protested  to  Congress 
vigorously  against  this  burden  and  injustice,  so  needless 
if  Congress  would  enact  the  laws  so  evidently  required. 
It  is  now  costing  the  benevolences  of  the  Christian 
churches  of  this  country  about  a  quarter  of  a  million 
dollars  annually  for  missionary  work  in  Utah,  most  of 
which  is  expended  in  sustaining  free  schools.  These 
ought  manifestly  to  be  maintained  all  over  the  territory 
by  enactment  of  Congress  and  at  public  expense. 

"  All  the  managers  of  these  missionary  schools  express 
a  desire  to  give  up  their  work  in  all  except  academic 
departments  just  as  soon  as  the  public  schools  are 
raised  to  their  proper  standard  and  made  in  reality  free 
schools."  ] 

Bishop  Leonard,  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  says  (in 
1889)  :  l'  I  believe  the  day  is  not  far  distant,  especially 
in  the  larger  towns,  when  we  may  feel  that  our  mission 
in  sustaining  free  schools  has  passed." 

If    the   religious  societies   would    turn    some    of    their 

1  The  Salt  Lake  Tribune. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  347 

attention  to  Congress  they  could  soon  secure  suitable 
free  public  schools  for  Utah,  and  could  then  use  their 
missionary  funds  for  more  distinctively    Christian    work. 

3.  Congress  ought  to  so  legislate  as  to  give  special 
encouragement  to  loyal  citizens  to  emigrate  to   Utah. 

If  one  hundred  thousand  loyal  people  were  to  settle 
there,  Congress  might  then  safely  admit  Utah  to  statehood 
and  leave  to  her  own  citizens,  to  education  and  Christian 
missions,  the  settlement  of  the  Mormon  question. 

Although  most  of  the  five  hundred  thousand  acres  of 
cultivated  lands  in  Utah  and  the  water  to  irrigate  them 
are  now  in  the  hands  of  Mormons  who  are  instructed 
not  to  sell  to  G-entiles,  yet  there  still  remains  in  Utah 
some  five  hundred  thousand  acres  *  of  suitable  lands  for 
cultivation  if  Congress  would  aid  their  irrigation,  and 
prevent  them  from  being  taken  up  by  Mormons.  Under 
Judge  Anderson's  decision  no  Mormon  should  be  allowed 
a  patent  to  any  public  lands.  The  cheapest  and  best 
way  for  Congress  to  solve  the  Mormon  problem  is  to 
abundantly  irrigate  these  unoccupied  valleys  and  provide 
an  ample  supply  of  water  for  the  mines,  and  in  every 
proper  way  stimulate  Gentile  emigration  to  Utah. 

"  If  the  government  would  expend  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  annually  in  supplying  its  lands  in  Utah  with 
water,  the  people  to  settle  the  lands  so  supplied  would 
be  Gentiles,  and  a  few  years  of  that  kind  of  work  would 
fit  the  territory  for  statehood  and  the  trouble  of  the  gen- 
eral government  would  be  over.  Laws  to  withhold  citizen 
papers  and  to  prevent  Mormons  from  hereafter  obtaining 
title  to  lands  ought  to  be  passed  as  soon  as  Congress 
meets.  This  plan  would  do  more  to  arrest  the  spread  of 
Mormonism   than   any  other  one   device.     Mormon  mis- 

1  Report  of  the  Governor  of  Utah,  1889. 


348  The  Mormon  Delusion. 

sionaries  would  swiftly  lose  their  power  to  convert  dupes 
to  their  cause,  for  it  is  a  material,  oftener  than  it  is  a 
religious,  instinct  that  first  draws  nine  out  of  every  ten 
Mormon  converts  this  way."  1 

The  climate  of  Utah  is  most  mild  and  charming  ;  fruits 
and  vegetables  grow  there  as  in  a  garden  in  the  south ; 
healing  hot  springs  gush  forth  from  the  feet  of  her  hills  ; 
rich  metals  vein  her  mountains  ;  the  G-reat  Salt  Lake  is 
stored  upon  the  summit  of  her  bosom  ;  her  scenery  is 
varied  and  sublime.  With  such  natural  attractions  in 
Utah-,  Congress  ought  to  add  such  other  incentives 
as  would  pour  one  hundred  thousand  loyal  citizens  into 
that  territory  within  three  years. 

What  can  the  private  citizen  do  for  Utah  ? 

When  Mormon  elders  come  into  his  vicinity  he  can  see 
that  they  are  exposed  and  driven  away  ;  he  can  circulate 
anti-Mormon  literature  ;  with  his  prayers  and  money  he 
can  help  to  sustain  the  missionaries  at  the  front  who  are 
spending  their  lives  in  Utah  that  this  evil  may  be  sup- 
planted with  the  gospel  of  Christ ;  he  can  write  to  his 
members  of  Congress  and  circulate  petitions  asking  that 
suitable  laws  be  passed  for  Utah ;  or  he  can  himself 
emigrate  to  Utah  and  join  in  the  direct  work. 

If  all  the  facts  set  forth  in  these  pages  were  widely 
known  to  the  people  of  this  country,  the  very  heavens 
would  reverberate  with  an  explosion  of  indignation  from 
honest  men  and  women  which  would  make  the  "  ever- 
lasting mountains  "  of  Utah  to  rock  to  and  fro,  and  smoke 
with  burning. 

Who  can  read  all  the  foregoing  without  a  feeling  of 
burning  shame  for  our  country,  that  Congress  has  not 
earlier  taken  action,  and  does  not  now  adopt  more  radical 

1  The  Salt  Lake  Tribune. 


The  Mormon  Delusion.  349 

measures  ?  An  old  resident  of  Salt  Lake  City  once  said  : 
"It  is  very  difficult  for  a  patriotic  citizen  to  live  in  Utah 
and  maintain  that  respect  for  the  government  of  his  coun- 
try which  every  citizen  ought  to  feel." 

The  author  would  urge  upon  Congress  and  upon  the 
humane  citizens  of  this  Republic,  and  upon  Christian 
people  everywhere,  that  their  sympathy  and  help  are  due 
to  the  common  people  among  the  Mormons,  and  especially 
to  the  young  and  to  the  children.  These  are  not  to  blame 
for  the  wrongs  of  Mormonism.  Most  of  them  are  sincere 
and  are  better  than  their  system.  In  most  cases  they 
were  originally  deceived  into  it,  or  have  been  born  into 
it,  and  know  very  little  of  anything  better.  They  have 
been  kept  in  ignorance,  away  from  acquaintance  with 
better  society,  and  have  been  taught  to  hate  Gentiles  as 
enemies  and  most  wicked  people.  Statesmanship  and 
Christianity  alike  require  that  they  be  henceforward  pro- 
tected with  a  strong  arm  from  their  oppressors,  and  that 
the  doorways  of  education  and  the  gospel  be  opened  to 
them.  These  deluded  people  have  fallen  among  thieves, 
and  the  neighborly  deeds  of  the  Good  Samaritan  are  much 
needed. 

Let  him  who  thinks  that  the  Mormon  Problem  is  almost 
solved  be  undeceived.  Even  when  Congress  and  the 
courts  shall  have  done  their  utmost,  it  will  take  half  a 
century  yet  of  the  gospel  in  the  hands  of  missionaries 
and  teachers  to  dig  up  the  roots  of  this  evil.  The  public 
has  not  yet  grasped  the  proportions  of  this  problem.  The 
present  laws  and  Christian  forces  at  work  in  Utah  still 
have  a  problem  before  them  much  like  that  which  a  single 
company  of  sappers  and  miners  would  have  who  should 
undertake  to  dig  down  the  Wahsatch  Mountain  range 
with  pick  and  spade. 


350  Addenda. 


ADDENDA. 


By  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  (February  3,  1890),  the  constitutionality  of  the 
so-called  "Idaho  Test  Oath  Law"  was  upheld.  This 
law  was  passed  by  the  Idaho  Territorial  Legislature  in 
1884,  and  its  object  is  to  disfranchise  all  persons  belong- 
ing to  any  organization  which  inculcates  the  doctrines  of 
bigamy,  polygamy,  celestial  or  plural  marriage,  or  those 
of  any  system  opposed  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States ; 
in  short,  to  disfranchise  all  Mormons.  The  effect  of  this 
decision  is  far-reaching.  It  indicates  that,  when  a  test 
case  is  raised,  the  Supreme  Court  will  probably  hold  that 
all  Mormons  are  disfranchised  by  virtue  of  their  member- 
ship in  the  disloyal  Mormon  Church.  AVhen  that  point 
shall  have  been  reached,  the  political  power  of  the  Mor- 
mons will  be  at  an  end. 

The  decision  above  referred  to  also  includes  an  affirma- 
tion of  the  constitutionality  of  the  Edmunds-Tucker  law 
against  polygamy,  and  which  provides  also  for  the  seiz- 
ing of  the  property  illegally  held  by  the  Mormon  Church, 
as  shown  on  pages  294-297. 

The  great  prominence  which  the  struggle  in  Utah 
against  Mormonism  has  gained  has  prevented  the  public 
from  following  the  various  steps  of  a  similar  and  most 
interesting  contest  which  has  been  going  on  in  Idaho  Ter- 
ritory during  the  past  ten  years.  While  the  principles 
involved  in  the  struggle  have  been  the  same  as  those  in 


Addenda.  351 

Utah,  yet  the  conditions  have  been  widely  different,  and 
there  have  been  no  precedents. 

The  Mormons,  bound  by  an  oath  "  to  avenge  the  blood 
of  the  Prophet  Joseph  upon  this  nation,  and  to  teach  this 
vengeance  to  our  children's  children  unto  the  fifth  genera- 
tion," began  to  settle  in  Idaho  and  were  soon  able,  by 
voting  as  a  unit,  to  hold  the  balance  of  power  between 
the  Republican  and  Democratic  parties  in  that  territory. 
Always  ready  to  affiliate,  for  the  time  being,  with  any 
party  that  will  help  to  give  them  power,  they  united 
their  forces  in  Idaho  with  the  Democrats,  and  were  thus 
able,  in  1880,  to  control  the  legislature  by  a  large  ma- 
jority. A  bill  introduced  for  the  suppression  of  polyg- 
amy was  promptly  defeated.  Governor  Neil,  in  two 
messages  to  the  legislature,  warned  them  against  the 
increasing  power  of  the  law-defying  Mormon  element. 
The  Democrats  soon  learned  that  the  Mormons  were 
only  making  tools  of  them,  and  in  1882  Hon.  Fred  T. 
Dubois,  a  Republican,  was  chosen  delegate  to  Congress, 
and  has  been  able  and  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  break  the 
Mormon  power  in  Idaho  and  Utah.  In  1884  the  Repub- 
licans and  Democrats  united  their  forces  against  the 
Mormons  and  elected  an  anti-Mormon  legislature.  It 
was  this  legislature  that  passed  the  famous  anti-Mormon 
test  oath  law  which  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  has 
just  sustained.  This  decision  prostrates  the  political 
power  of  the  Mormons  in  Idaho,  and  she  will  be  admitted 
into  the  Union  with  her  anti-Mormon  constitution.  But 
the  loyal  citizens  of  Utah,  being  in  a  small  minority, 
must  patiently  and  heroically  continue  their  long-drawn 
contest  until  the  courts  shall  disfranchise  the  Mormons, 
or  until  there  shall  be  a  great  immigration  to  Utah  of 
respectable  citizens. 


352  Addenda. 

A  municipal  election  of  much  importance  occurred  in 
Salt  Lake  City,  February  10,  1890.  The  issue  was 
clearly  made  as  to  whether  the  Mormons  or  the  anti- 
Mormons  should  control  the  city  ;  the  campaign  was  long 
and  very  exciting ;  and  the  anti-Mormon  citizens  gained 
a  decided  victory.  The  two  chief  cities  of  Utah  —  Salt 
Lake  and  Ogclen  —  are  now  under  the  political  control 
of  the  non-Mormons.     The  dawn  advances  apace. 


Index. 


353 


INDEX. 


Aliens,  Mormon,  can  not  become 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  299. 

Anderson,  Judge,  decision  of,  299. 

Anthon,  Professor,  20. 

Atonement.  See  "Blood  Atone- 
ment." 

Bank,  the  Mormon,  39. 

Bennett,  Dr.  John  C,  49. 

Bible,  The,  and  polygamy,  229. 

Bible,  The  Golden,  "origin  of,  18,  27; 
review  of,  246. 

Bible,  The  Mormon,  18,  27,  246. 

"  Blood  Atonement,"  161,  166,  168, 
179,  199,  305. 

Book,  The,  of  Mormon,  17,  19,  22,  23, 
25,  28;  review  of,  246. 

Buchanan,  President,  84. 

Burton,  Mary,  109;  story  of  "hand- 
cart" brigade,  124,  129;  in  Utah, 
147. 

Caine,  John  T.,  on  polygamy,  199. 

Campbell,  Alexander,  33. 

Cannon,  George  Q.,  on  polygamy, 
230;  indicted,  262;  flight,  297;  in 
the  penitentiary,  298. 

Carthage,  111.,  52. 

Catechism,  the  Mormon,  254. 

Christian  missions  and  missionaries 
in  Utah,  329,  331,332. 

Church,  the  Mormon,  organized,  11, 
12  27   30. 

Churches,  Christian,  in  Utah,  332. 

Climate  of  Utah,  348. 

Colfax,  Vice-President,  in  Utah,  191. 

Congress,  laws  of,  concerning 
r,  291;    duty  of,  toward 


polygamy, 
Utah,  346. 


Cradlebaugh,  Judge,  180-184. 

Cumorah  Hill,  17,  27. 

Curtis,  George  Ticknor,  78;  defends 

the  Mormons,  323. 
Danite  Band,  the,  43,  44,  69,  168, 180. 
Democratic  party,  47. 
Deseret  Daily  News,  The,  59,  60,  90. 
Deseret,  the  State  of,  77,  78. 
Disloyalty  of  Mormons,  306. 
Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  63,  65. 
Edmunds-Tucker  law,  291,  294. 
Emigration  Fund  Co.,  138,  294. 
Endowment  House,  160, 198,  201, 301, 

302. 
England,  Mormons  in,  106. 


Female  Relief  Society,  205,  206. 

Fillmore,  President,  78. 

Ford,  Governor,  51,  52,  63. 

Gentiles,  the,  in  Nauvoo,  63;  in 
Utah,  334;  slow  increase  of,  339. 

Golden  Bible,  The,  18, 19,  27,  246. 

Golden  Plates,  the,  17-19,  22. 

"Hand-cart"  scheme,  124,  125,  129, 
137. 

Harris,  Martin,  20,  22,  23. 

Hymns,  Mormon,  27,  34,  53,  85,  93, 
101,  222-224,  257-259. 

Idaho,  26 i,  300,350. 

Illinois,  45,  49,  51,  62,  70. 

Immigrants,  Mormon,  76;  at  Castle 
Garden,  120;  and  their  officers, 
12S;  sufferings  of,  on  the  plains, 
129,  137;  funds  for,  138. 

Independence,  Mo.,  35. 

Indians  and  Mountain  Meadows 
Massacre,  172, 175. 

Iowa,  65,  66,  68. 

Irrigation  in  Utah,  339,  347. 

Kirtland,  29,  31,  39. 

Lands  in  Utah,  347. 

Language,  Mormon  abuse  of,  272. 

Latter  Day  Saints,  12. 

Laws  concerning  Utah,  291,  296. 

Lee,  John  D.,  44;  at  Mountain 
Meadows,  172,  173,  178;  executed, 
178. 

McKean,  Judge,  288. 

Manchester,  N.  Y.,  15. 

Manuscript  Found,  24. 

Marriage,  Mormon  doctrine  of,  140, 
194;  polygamous  ceremony  of, 
153. 

Massacre  at  Mountain  Meadows, 
169,  178, 182. 

Mexican  War,  73,  75. 

Ministers  in  Utah,  332. 

Miracles  of  Joseph  Smith,  37,  38. 

Missionaries,  Mormon,  34,  39,  50, 
103-106;  in  Switzerland,  107;  and 
polygamy,  113,  115;  and  "hand- 
cart" scheme,  124;  .methods  of, 
216;  in  Scandinavia,  224;  in 
Alabama,  228;  converts  of,  228;  in 
foreign  lands,  228;  Christian,  in 
Utah,  328,  331,332. 

Missions,  Christian,  in  Utah,  328, 
331,  332. 


354 


Index. 


Missouri,  35,  36,  41,  42-44,  70. 

Money,  digging  for,  14,  16,  21. 

Mormon,  The  Book  of,  17,  19,  23,  25, 
•28,  246. 

Morrisites,  The,  185. 

Nauvoo,  45-47,49,  51-54,  61-67;  Ex- 
positor, 51,  56. 

Ohio,  3H0. 

Omaha,  68. 

Oregon,  65. 

Palmyra,  N.  Y.,  15,  31. 

"  Peep-stone,"  the,  15,  22. 

Perjury  of  Mormons,  261,  266,  268. 

Pierce,*  President,  78. 

Plates,  the  Golden,  17-19,  27. 

Polk,  President,  72. 

Polygamy,  50,  57,  58,  60,  107; 
"  revelation  "  on,  111 ;  why  women 
believe  in,  118, 196-215;  doctrine  of, 
194 ;  fruits  of,  194 ;  Mormon  women 
defend,  212;  and  the  Bible,  229; 
laws  against,  291;  convictions  for, 
292;  numbers  living  in,  293;  a 
symptom  of  Mormonism,  321; 
argument  for,  321,  324. 

Pratt,  Mrs.  Sarah  M.,  210,  211. 

Problem,  the  Mormon,  not  solved, 
337,  342,  343,  349. 

Prophecies,  the,  of  Joseph  Smith, 
38,  252. 

Property  of  the  Mormon  Church 
seized,  295. 

Quincy,  111.,  45. 

Reign  of  Terror,  161,  166-16S,  179, 
181, 199,  212. 

"Revelations,"  32,35,  39,  46,  47,  50, 
57,  58;  on  polygamy,  111;  on 
"hand-cart"  scheme,  124;  on  the 
Rebellion,  252;  to  build  a  board- 
ing-house, 303. 

Rigdon,  Sidney,  24-31,  42,  62. 

Rocky  Mountains,  the,  65,  71,  72,  74. 

Saints,  the,  12. 

Salt  Lake,  the  valley  of,  71,  84;  city 
of,  84,  86,  96,  97;    election  of    1890, 


Schools  in  Utah,  296, 327-331,  345-347. 

Smith,  Joseph,  born,  12;  early  train- 
ing of,  13;  reputation  of,  13,  14,  17, 
21;  marries,  21;  schemes  of,  26; 
moves  to  Ohio,  31 ;  flees  to  Mis- 
souri, 35,  40;  miracles  of,  37,  38; 
in  prison,  45;  candidate  for  Presi- 
dent, 49;  killed,  52;  immoralities 
of,  53,  61. 

Spaulding,  Solomon,  24. 

Stenhouse  Mr.  and  Mrs.  T.  B.  H., 
69,  81,  9S,  99;  receive  the  "revela- 
tion," 110;  teach  polygamy,  114, 
115 ;  emigrate  to  the  United  States, 
119;  cross  the  plains,  13S;  arrive  in 
Salt  Lake,  139;  and  wife  No.  2, 
151. 

Switzerland,  107. 

Taylor,  President,  80. 

Temples,  Mormon  :  at  Kirtland,  36; 
at  Nauvoo,  48,  63. 

Tithes,  Mormon  doctrine  of,  260; 
collection  of,  337. 

Tribune,  Salt  Lake,  The,  335. 

Utah  Territory,  organized,  78;  more 
males  than  females  in,  244;  morals 
of,  261,  273;  statehood  for,  312; 
population  of,  327;  voters  in,  327; 
climate  of,  34S. 

Warsaw,  111.,  52. 

Water  for  irrigation  in  Utah,  339. 

Wells,  Daniel  H.,  90,  91. 

Whig  party,  47. 

Wives,  spiritual  and  proxy,  141. 

Women,  why,  believe  in  polygamy, 
118,  196,  199. 

Young,  Brigham,  45,  48,  62,  71-73,  77, 
78,80,84,87,89,  96,  97;  on  "Blood 
Atonement,"  163;  and  the  massa- 
cre, 169,  177-179,  182;  and  United 
States  troops,  186;  life  of,  1S8; 
peculations  of,  192;  in  the  peniten- 
tiary, 288. 

Young,  Mrs.  Ann  Eliza,  206,  288. 

Zane,  Judge  Charles  S.,  294,  297, 299, 
335. 


3RINT  EC   IN   J    S 


L9V 


BP845.M78C.2 

The  Mormon  delusion  :  its  history, 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 

1111    " 


